The Secret Behind
by Azure Serenity
Summary: Hide and seek is a game kids play, so come out here and face the reality. Sakura sees herself in an adventure she didn't see coming, and Sasuke sees himself very confused, maybe something good will come out of it!
1. Chapter 1

**This is the sequel of my fist fic, Birthday gift in an oasis, but if you haven't read that story, you'll understand this one just fine.**

**I decided to revise this story, firstly because I used to writte with a lot of '…' and secondly because my original first chapter was very very short.**

**I hope you all like my story, I put a lot of effort in it, and please, review and tell me what you think, your ideas really help, and if you have any advice for me, please tell me!!**

* * *

In a dark cave whose whereabouts are unknown, 2 dangerous S-rank Missing-nins are in a meeting, the leader is just a hologram projection looking like a shadow.

"Are you sure??" the leader asked calmly.

"Hai, she lives with another shinobi and it seems she is a mother." the other nin said calmly.

"Very well, thank you for the information, you did a good job." the leader said.

"It was a pleasure Leader." the nin said.

"You may go now, your partner is waiting for you." the nin nodded and got out of the cave.

"It seems I will be travelling to that village for you blossom." the leader said darkly and the hologram disappeared.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

In the busy streets of Konoha the former apprentice of the Godaime Hokage is walking home, many people greet her and she responds with a wave and a smile.

Her house is situated in the former Uchiha district, Konoha was needing more place for people to live, so… the Uchiha district was cleaned and some people are allowed to live there, only people the Hokage trusts thought. The houses are the same, the Uchiha symbol is still everywhere, but the people living there are different.

She entered her house happily.

"Tadaima." she said happily, the entrance showed a doorway leading to all the rooms in the floor, the bedrooms upstairs.

"Dinner will be up soon." a man said from the kitchen.

"Uhmm… it smells good, whatcha doing??" she asked entering the kitchen.

"Katsudon, Tempura and Gyoza." the raven haired man said taking the bowls of Katsudon and putting them on the table next to the other food.

"EH?? my favourite!!" she exclaimed happily jumping up and down and clapping her hands, the man rolled his eyes.

"Pull yourself together Gaki." he said in a mocking tone, she pouted.

"How are Ryuuki-kun and Kyuuki-chan??" she asked looking around.

"Sleeping upstairs." the man said "Now take a seat Saku-chan." he said with a smile and sat down on the table, she nodded and sat down in front of him.

"Itadakimasu." they both said and started eating.

"…" the man raised a brow at her, she was reluctant about saying something.

"Just say what's in your mind." he said calmly taking a bit of tempura to his mouth.

"Etou… it's that… your cooking's really good… and mine's… etou…" she whispered. He smiled warmly at her.

"Glad to know that." he whispered back. "If you want I can give you a few tips."she looked at him and smiled.

"Arigatou."

"It's nothing." he said and smiled again.

"You should smile like that more often Sai-kun." he smirked.

"Make me smile more then." silence fell for a second and then they burst out laughing.

After dinner Sakura went upstairs while Sai stayed in the kitchen cleaning up, one of the rules of the house, whoever cooks cleans up. Once upstairs she entered a room, she smiled seeing 2 beds with children sleeping peacefully, she walked to one of the beds and gave a kiss to the child, she did the same to the other one, as she left the room she closed the door whispering.

"Oyasumi my precious tenshi." she walked down the hallway and entered her bedroom.

"Aaahhhhh… I'm glad I have a day off tomorrow."

* * *

Outside the house in the shadows is standing a man with a dark aura.

"Time as passed Blossom." the man said to himself darkly. "It seems I need to pay you a visit. I'll just have to wait for you to be alone." he laughed darkly. "You just wait Blossom, you just wait." with that he vanished in the darkness of the forest, his mind working on a plan to catch her with her guard down.

"_I'm gonna make your life a living hell Blossom."_ he thought with an evil smirk plastered in his face.

"You just wait."

* * *

23 years old Haruno Sakura woke up yawning, she looked out of the window.

"Rain… again." she muttered getting up. she proceeded to the bathroom in her pyjamas that consisted in a pair of dark green short shorts and a matching spaghetti strap top, she brushed her teeth and combed her hair and then walked down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

While preparing the day's first meal she smiled and hummed some random song happily.

She couldn't say she was the happiest person in the world, but she was happy.

When the wall clock hit 7:40 she was done and Sai walked in the kitchen only in a pair of faded black jeans.

"Morning Ugly." he said sitting on the table, she turned to him with a playful glare and put her hands on her hips.

"Morning paint freak." she said in a joking tone, they both chuckled.

"What's for breakfast Saku-chan??" he asked stiffening a yawn.

"Pancakes and milkshakes." she said happily and put 4 dishes with pancakes and chocolate sauce and 4 tall glasses with strawberry milkshake on the table.

"I'm gonna call Ryuuki-kun and Kyuuki-chan." she walked to him and leaned her face so it was really close to his. "Do _**not **_eat while everybody isn't here." she said in a warning tone.

"Hai hai." he said leaning back on his chair and closing his eyes.

"Good!" she said and walked upstairs.

Once upstairs she opened the door of the children's room to see a little boy and a little girl jumping up and down happily on their designed beds and giggling, she smiled.

"What have I told you?? The bed is not for jumping." she said in an amused warning tone, the children stopped and looked at her with innocent eyes.

"Kaa-chan!!" they exclaimed happily and ran to her, she bent down and hugged them with a content smile.

She took their hands and they walked to the kitchen, she helped them sit in their high chairs and put their breakfast in front of them, she looked over at Sai's plate and smiled.

"H_e actually waited."_ her inner self chuckled, he usually ignored what she told him.

She sat down and looked at Sai, he rolled his eyes and sat properly on his chair, she looked at the children and frowned, they were about to put some pancake in their mouths, she cleared her throat.

"What have I thought you??" she said in a scolding tone, they put the food down and joined their palms.

"Itadakimasu!!" they exclaimed happily and started eating, Sakura had a content smile on her lips.

"_I'm proud!"_ her inner self commented, her smile turned into a frown when she looked at Sai.

"Ahem, it applies for you too." she said in a warning tone, he looked at her and sighed.

"Annoying." he muttered. "Itadakimasu!" he said calmly and dug in his food.

"_I love her breakfast!!"_ he thought as he happily ate what she had prepared _"Thought I'd never tell her that."_

She thanked for her meal and ate contently, a smile gracing her features as she ate and looked at everyone at the table eating.

Kyuuki-chan and Ryuuki-kun were eating contently and their faces were full of chocolate sauce and bits of pancake followed by milkshake moustaches.

Sai had a genuine and content rare smile gracing his handsome features.

She glanced at him looking at his eyes.

"_His eyes actually show emotion and life these days!!"_ she thought happily, she was proud of him being able to show emotions and feel, she had put a lot of work for him to do so, when everyone else just didn't cared about him.

Although he acted almost the same way around everyone as before, he wasn't so tactless and wasn't cold anymore, except with Naruto, who he still called dickless, that made her giggle quietly as she remembered something.

* * *

**Flashback**

_Everyone had gathered for an important event in Konoha, Naruto was currently chatting with a group of respected ninjas about the success of the missions of the month__. Sakura walked with Sai near the group and she greeted everyone politely, on the other hand._

"_Hey Dobe, blabbering again." Sai said casually, everyone looked at him Naruto pointed an accusatory finger at him._

"_Shut up Teme." he yelled, everyone looked at them, Sakura just shook her head with an amused smiled._

"_Guys… these two never change!" she thought._

"_Who?? Me?? I thought the Teme was the other guy, what was his name…" Sai made an innocent face "oh yeah, Uchiha right??" he said and looked at Naruto with a victorious smirk and innocent eyes._

"_TEME." Naruto yelled and launched at Sai planning to hit him, but Sai just moved and dodged his attack effortlessly._

"_What now Dickless Wonder?? Are you gonna tell us your true identity??" he said, Naruto looked at him fuming and red from anger and embarrassment._

"_What. Do. You. Mean. By. That??" Naruto hissed angrily, a tint of red in his eyes, Sai's smirk only widened as he walked to Sakura turning his back to Naruto and giving one final remark._

"_You can't possibly be a man Dickless!" he said in a mocking tone, Naruto was exploding and 8 ninjas were needed to hold him back from attacking Sai, while the last was looking at the scene chuckling, and his pink haired companion was holding her laugher in._

**End of Flashback**

* * *

Everyone finished their meals and she started to do the dishes humming happily, Sai cleaned the table, and the kids.

Kyuuki-chan and Ryuuki-kun were sitting on normal chairs dangling their legs happily, Sai knelt down next to them and looked at them chuckling, the 2 children giggled.

"Let's clean those ugly faces of yours." they pouted when he said 'ugly'.

"Ok, ok, you're not that ugly, not like your ugly kaa-chan in the least." Sakura glared playfully at him over her shoulder, he ignored and looked at the 2 gaki in from of him, he smirked and grabbed the 2 children, putting them one over each of his shoulders.

"Let's take the ugliness out of you two!" he said casually and walked out of the kitchen.

"You're mean." the children whined pouting.

Sakura chuckled, he was always like that but she knew he was really affectionate with her kids.

"Be sure to get them clean clothes." she said loudly, she knew he was going to give them a bath.

"I'm not an idiot like the dead last." he remarked and she only sighed.

"He _**has**_ to have the last word." she muttered cleaning her hands and walking to the bathroom, the scene was hilarious, but she contained her laugher.

The bathtub was full of warm water with lots of bubbles, the children were inside the water laughing while splashing Sai, who was knelling down next to the tub and splashing them back with a genuine happy face.

"Ok… who are you and what did you do to Sai??" she asked in amusement from the doorway, Sai looked at her over his shoulder and grinned.

"Oh no…" too late, he splashed her wetting her pyjama, making it kind of see through.

* * *

**Outside the house in the shadows Unknwn person's POV**

I just arrived to Konoha this morning after a week, stuff to do, people to order around, last week I saw her, kids and she's living with that… project of a shinobi. Tsk… how could she…

It's around 7 a.m.

I hide myself, obviously hiding my chakra, in the shadows, the day is dark with the sun hiding by clouds.

She's waking up in her room, she gets up and goes to the bathroom, she's wearing a pair of green short shorts and a matching spaghetti strap top. I have to admit, only to myself obviously no one else has anything to do with what I think or don't think, anyway… as I way saying, I have to admit, she looks… beautiful.

I follow her from outside, now she's in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

Some minutes later the 'project of a shinobi' enters the kitchen in only a pair of jeans, seriously, not only his ninja gear is, anyway, as he doesn't fully dresses himself?? Please… yes, I know, I'm very critical, not my fault I'm kinda surrounded by diots and have to constantly be 'scolding' them to do their jobs right, anyway, deal with it.

She sets the plates with food and drinks in the table and goes upstairs, I just stay there, that idiot known as Sai is leaning against his chair, his eyes closed, not anymore, let me rephrase it, half lidded eyes. Damn, I can't see where he's looking and he's smirking. I really don't like him.

Doesn't matters, the mater of my attention returned to the kitchen with 2 gaki, I'd say around 3 or 4 years old.

She's smiling happily.

The gaki… a boy and a girl.

The boy, he has spiky raven hair (A/N: spiky like when Gaara was chibi but not the same colour) and dark emerald green eyes with some tints of onyx eyes, full of life.

The girl, she has long silky raven coloured hair with some dark pink, almost red, highlights, and onyx eyes with a tint of dark emerald green in it, again, eyes full of life.

They ate their breakfast silently, I know all my lackeys cough slaves cough say I'm an 'emo-freak' as they proudly call me, but I also have a sense of humour, why am I saying this?? 'cause the 2 gaki's faces are hilarious, chocolate sauce everywhere in their faces, followed by bits of pancake and milk or whatever drink they had, moustaches, really, it's funny, inside I chuckled, can't afford to be discovered by chuckling aloud now can I?? remark I am being sarcastic here.

Sai grabbed the gaki and they walked to the bathroom, Sakura followed soon after, and once there she joined an already going on splashing fight, the gaki were in the bathtub, splashing and giggling, Sai was kneeling next to it splashing around and chuckling and Sakura was next to them splashing them and laughing…

Cough cough… her clothes are see through now that she's soaked, cough. I'm not a hentai, damn hormones.

Focussing I remember why I came here in the first place, a smirk places itself in my lips, the reason I came here was o give a little gift to her, and I still intend to, and now that they're busy I can put the first stage of my plan in practice… my smirk only widened as I moved to give an anonymous gift to her, it would be no fun if she knew it was from me now would it, and yes, I am kind of sadistic.

Now… on with my plan.

* * *

**Normal POV**

The dark cloaked figure moved silently and unnoticed by anyone to the pink haired girls room, leaving a 'gift' behind.

He smirked evilly as he left the house and started to run through the forest.

"I would stay and watch you a little longer blossom, but I have some orders to give around… and a person to visit." he muttered darkly and he ran in direction to an unknown place.

* * *

**I hope evertone like this 'new' first chapter!!**

**Please let me know if you did!!**

**Please review!!**

**Luv you all, Kaori-chan!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The second chapter, I hope everyone enjoys!!**

**Please review and let me know your opinions!!**

* * *

**Normal POV**

"I'm gonna get dressed, can you dress them??" Sakura asked looking at Sai who was taking Kyuuki and Ryuuki out of the bathtub. He looked at her and nodded.

"Let's get you 2 dressed, and if you behave we'll go see Akamaru." Sai said.

"We want to go see Akamaru!! We want to go see Akamaru!!" the twins exclaimed happily jumping up and down and clapping their hands.

"Then behave." Sakura said.

"Hai kaa-chan!" Sakura smiled and left the bathroom.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Sakura's POV**

I walk up the stairs to my room, I'm soaked from our splashing fight, doesn't matters, as long as everyone's happy! And it was fun!!

I enter my room and go to the closet. I take my regular training attire from the closet and some underwear. (Naruto Shippuden attire.)

I then proceed to take my wet clothes and put them in the dirty laundry basket in my room.

I dress my green underwear and then my clothes. When I'm fully dressed I decide to make the bed, so I walk to the bed.

I stop when I see the bed, there's something in it that wasn't there when I left my room to make the breakfast, a small black box, the size of a CD box.

I take the box in my hands cautiously, it's not very heavy.

I sit down on the bed and analyse the box with my chakra, it may be a trap, Sai likes playing tricks on me sometimes, it's never anything dangerous of course.

It's clean.

I slowly open the lid. Inside there is a black envelope and a burned paper? No… it's a burned picture, and it's upside down, so I can't see the image.

I take the envelope and then the picture.

My heart is beating like crazy. I drop the picture and take the envelope. I then open it and take a white sheet, there's a note, written in red. I'm… afraid of what may be written inside.

I read the note and my eyes widen in shock… what's happening… it… I… I can't breathe properly… my heart is pounding like crazy… ready to blow…

I take the picture in my hands and turn it around.

I scream and let the picture fall in the floor while I get up and run to the nearest wall and let myself fall to the floor in fear. I make my knees come up to my chest and I wrap my arms around them, some tears run down my face.

* * *

**In the living room – Sai's POV**

The gaki are dressed and now they're watching some TV, they're good kids, and they're so much like Sakura.

And they also have a lot in common with-

A piercing scream comes from upstairs, I stop my thoughts and get up abruptly, the gaki both look to the stairs with a worried and slightly scared face, then they look at me.

"I'll go see… don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing." I reassure, they seem to calm down. "Stay here and be good."

"Hai." Good kids indeed. I walk upstairs not in a rush that would scare them.

That scream, I'm sure it was Sakura. I run to her room and open the door, I scan the door for intruders but find none, I only see Sakura sitting in the floor against the wall opposite to her bed, her arms wrapped around her knees, shaking and slightly sobbing. I walk to her and kneel down next to her, her eyes are looking blankly ahead.

"Ugly??" No response.

"Hag??" I try again, nothing. Now I'm getting worried, seriously worried, if she doesn't punches me or at least glares at me when I call her that, then something is _seriously_ wrong.

"Sakura-chan??" this time she looks at me, but no words come out.

"What's wrong??" she still doesn't answer, but I can tell she isn't okay.

"C'mere." I wrap my arms around her slim form and she just leans her head against my shoulder, without a word.

After some minutes she stops sobbing, but she's still shaking. I lean back a bit to look at her. Her eyes show fear, confusion and shock.

"What's wrong?? What happened??" I ask quietly. She looks into my eyes.

"I…I… somet-…" at the lack of words she points a shaking finger at her bed, I look and see a burned picture on the floor, a small black box, a black envelope and a white sheet on the bed.

I get up taking her with me, she gladly stays within my arms. We walk calmly to the bed.

"Sit down." She obeys and sits in the edge of the bed, away from the note, picture, box, all of that.

I get the picture from the floor and turn it around.

It's a photo from Kyuuki-chan, Ryuuki-kun and from what I can tell Sakura, but her face and most of her body in the picture are burned. Who would do such a thing? I know I call her Ugly and Hag, but c'mon, she isn't any of those things, not that I would admit that to her.

I put the photo down next to the black box and take the note, it's written in red, I'd say blood or something similar. The note says:

_**Now, now Blossom**__**, someone has broken a promise made a long time ago.**_

_**Nice kids you have there Blossom, twins I presume, around 3 or 4 years old**_

_**And I thought you would keep your word**__**, such a shame… now I'll have to ruin your little family, such a shame indeed.**_

_**See the photo**__**, that's what's going to happen, or maybe the other way around. I'll have to think about it.**_

_**I've watched you Blossom, you seem to be having fun with that replacement of yours**__**, enjoy while you can, or should I say while your life isn't a living hell? Perhaps both.**_

_**I'll be keeping an eye on you Blossom**__**, don't think I'll just let you run around free betraying your promise without punishment. I was never someone who accepts betrayal or loosing something I want lightly.**_

_**I'll see you around Blossom**__**, of course you won't see me, nor my subordinates.**_

_**Maybe I'll pay you a visit someday**__**, maybe if I have the time.**_

_**Take care Blossom, wouldn't want a good medic like you being sick**_

_**And by the way**__**, I wouldn't tell anyone if I were you, or they might just disappear without leaving a trace for you to follow, nor would you want your precious tenshi to be gone without a trace, now would you?**_

I reread the note, no wonder she's like that. I put the note down and kneel in front of her.

"Sakura… we should-" she shook her head lightly. I haven't seen her like this in years, she looks so fragile, like fine porcelain, breaking slowly from the inside.

I do the only thing I can, I pulled her into a comforting embrace. She just leaned in.

"We should at least tell-" she cut me off, her voice week and shaky.

"Just Gaara-kun, just him…" she leaned back, anyone could see she was broken.

I nodded and held her tighter, whoever is doing this to her…

When I entered Team 7, she hated me for bad talking Uchiha and always getting nicknames for everyone. Actually everyone hated me, no… they didn't hate me, they just despised me.

But… she always scolded me for having no emotions… I then started to study about emotions, but everyone still despised me, everyone but her. When everyone left me behind, she kept there, helping me, supporting me.

* * *

**Flashback**

_17 years old Sai sat on a tree branch on one of the trees situated over the mountain of the Hokages, looking at the animated city of Konoha, the sunset present, for once he wasn't painting, what was there to paint?_

_Since the last mission to bring Uchiha Sasuke back, he had studied hard, tried his best to know emotions, to show emotions, but no one had faith in him, no one believed him, they just despised him. He was the __soulless, cold-hearted, emotionless bastard__. He had tried his best not to be like that anymore, but for how hard he tried, no one cared._

"_What are you doing up here??" a soft voice came from under him, he looked and saw the pink haired kunoichi standing there looking at the sunset. He didn't answer._

_She stayed silent. He stayed silent._

"_You know… I haven't been up here in a while…" he looked at her, she had her hands intertwined behind her back. "…I came here when I was really upset." She looked up with a small smile and caught his gaze on her._

"_Go away Ugly." He said and looked away, his face always emotionless. She frowned._

"_What's wrong Sai??" he kept silent. She looked down with a sad smile._

"_Please talk to me…" she pleaded silently._

"_Everyone despises me." He stated, she looked up to see his poker face. "Everyone… I… I've been trying my best to… to learn about emotions… but even Naruto despises me." She went up and sat next to him on the branch._

"_Don't say that… I'm here am I not??" he looked at her, she had that peaceful smile he only saw when she was truly happy. He stayed silent._

"_You should never stop trying, even if it's just for yourself."_

"_Why try if no one cares?" she looked at him and frowned._

"_I care…" she whispered._

**End of Flashback**

* * *

On that day… I promised myself, I would protect her no matter what… I'd never leave her behind… I promised myself that, like she is always there for me, I'd always be there for her, no matter what. And I intend to keep my promise.

* * *

**Normal POV**

Kyuuki and Ryuuki turned the TV off and walked upstairs, they opened the door of Sakura's room lightly and saw Sai hugging her.

"Kaa-chan…" Ryuuki started.

"…what's wrong?? Kyuuki finished.

Sakura looked up and instantly calmed down and smiled.

"Nothing…" she said quietly, she cleaned her face and got up, Sai followed.

"Sakura…" Sai called.

"Let's go see Kiba-san and Akamaru shall we??"

"YYYAAAYYY!!!!!!" the kids exclaimed happily.

"I'll send a note while they're with Kiba." Sakura told Sai as they left the house. He observed her as they walked.

"_If I didn't knew what happened I'd say nothing happened…"_

They finally reached the Inuzuka compound and were greeted by a few people. After walking 5 minutes they saw Akamaru running around in his 'big dog' form in a field, Kiba was laying in the grass looking at the clouds, Shikamaru was next to him doing the same, and sitting next to them were Hinata and Tenten chatting happily.

"Ohayo!!" Sakura greeted.

"Ohayo Sakura-san, Sai-san!!" Hinata greeted.

"Hey Sakura, Sai!" Tenten.

"Hn… hey…" Shikamaru.

"Hey Sakura-chan, Sai!!" Kiba.

"Akamaru!!" Kyuuki and Ryuuki yelled happily and ran to Akamaru, who barked happily and ran to them.

Sai and Sakura walked to the group and sat down next to them.

They chatted for a while.

"Hinata-chan… Tenten-san… could you keep Kyuuki-chan and Ryuuki-kun for a while?? I have some things to send to Suna…" she partly lied. The 2 other girls smiled.

"Sure!!" they exclaimed happily.

"It's always a pleasure taking care of them Sakura-san… they're such good kids!!" Hinata said looking at the said kids who were on top of Akamaru, who was running around, the kids laughing happily.

"Yeah… they always behave and they're soooooo cute!!" Tenten exclaimed, the 3 girls giggled.

Sakura got up and Sai did too.

"Then I'll be going… I'll come and pick them up after lunch ok??" Hinata and Tenten nodded in agreement.

"Going for some alone time huh??" Kiba said with a playful wink. Sakura blushed a light shade of pink.

"N-no… I have some messages to send to Suna…" she said quickly. Sai just glared at Kiba. Hinata, Tenten, Shikamaru and Kiba laughed.

"It's not a shame to admit it Sakura!!" Tenten exclaimed.

"S-shut up!!" she said, her blush deepening.

"Relax Sakura-chan!! We're kidding…" Kiba said holding his laughter in. Sakura huffed.

"You're mean…" she whinned.

"Let's go Ugly." Sai said calmly, she punched his arm playfully.

"It's Sakura idiot." She corrected and started to walk away.

"Glad the Hag's back." He said.

"Shut it." She muttered, he just shoved his hands in his pockets and they left to the communication tower.

* * *

**Once there.**

"Sakura-san, do you need anything??" a shinobi asked.

"Actually yes, I need the fastest messenger bird please." She told the shinobi.

"Right away, what country is it to??"

"Sunagakure." She said while taking a small scroll and opening it.

"Sakura, we should…" Sai whispered something in her hear and she agreed.

"Good idea, I'll write it down."

She wrote a small text in the scroll and sealed it.

"Here you go, Takamaru is the fastest, the scroll will be in Suna by the end of the day."

"Okay… thank you." Sakura put the scroll on the bird and let it fly to its destination.

They left the tower and went to get some lunch at Ichiraku, for once Naruto wasn't there. It was understandable, since Hinata had settled a diet for him.

* * *

**Lunch time – with Hinata, Tenten, Kiba, Shikamaru and Naruto**

Everyone was at Kiba's house sitting at the kitchen table to have lunch.

"Are you hungry Kyuuki-chan??" Naruto asked.

"Hai Naruto-nii-chan!!" Kyuuki answered animatedly.

"What about you Ryuuki-kun??" the boy blushed lightly and nodded. Naruto grinned.

"Then let's eat!!" Naruto exclaimed and took the twins in his arms and carried them to the table.

"What do you two want to eat??" Hinata asked softly, they looked at each other and then at Naruto, the 3 grinned.

"We want ramen!!" the twins exclaimed, Naruto giggled.

"Okay then… you're lucky today!!" Hinata said with a smile, she left the table with Tenten and they went to get the food. Naruto sat the twins at the table and sat next to Shikamaru.

"Hey… did you guys notice something strange with Sakura-chan today??" Kiba asked quietly.

"Actually… yes. She seemed… disturbed or something, thought she didn't showed it." Shikamaru said quietly.

"That's strange, Sakura-chan is always so cheerful." Naruto comented.

"And did you notice Sai? He was deep in thought and always glancing at her and then around with a suspicious look…" Kiba continued.

"Like if there was danger around her of some kind." Shikamaru continued.

"That's very strange…" Naruto said making a deep thinking face.

"We all know Sai is very protective of her since we were 17… but still…" Kiba said crossing his arms around his chest.

"Yeah… but c'mon… we were alone there… and he wasn't being suspicious of us… it was about our surroundings…" Shikamaru leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling.

"Maybe we should ask them??" Naruto suggested, for once he wasn't being dense.

"I don't think it's a good idea." Shikamaru said quietly.

"Why not??" Kiba asked eyeing the lazy-ass genius, said genius sighed.

"We noticed their different behaviour because we've known 'hem for years, Sakura since the academy days and Sai since he entered Team Kakashi, if we didn't, it would be as if they were acting normally." He explained.

"So??" the 2 other asked, being somewhat dense.

"_So_... if they hide the fact that something is bothering them so much, it's because they have a good reason." _"they couldn't be more dense sometimes… -sigh- troublesome."_

"Oh… still… if something's wrong and if it's not personal… I should know." Naruto said leaning against his chair.

"But we can't force them to tell us… I'm sure they'll tell us… eventually." Kiba said after pondering on the genius's words.

At that moment Hinata and Tenten entered the room with food. Shrimp ramen for Kyuuki (in proportions for a child, which is half a regular bowl), chicken ramen for Ryuuki, Tempura for Shikamaru and Tenten and okazu for the others, of course there was a bowl of pork ramen for Naruto. The girls put the food on the table and sat down.

"Itadakimasu!!" they all exclaimed and started eating.

"How's the meal Kyuuki-chan?? Ryuuki-kun??" Tenten asked loking at the twins.

"Really good!!" they exclaimed. "Arigato Tenten-nee-chan, Hinata-nee-chan!!" they concluded and resumed eating, the girls giggled.

* * *

**A while before – as Hinata and Tenten went to get the food**

"Hinata??"

"What is it??"

"Did you notice Sakura?? She was acting…"

"Disturbed… it's like something really bad happened…"

"Exactly… and Sai kept glancing at her and around us like if there was danger…" Tenten said helping Hinata with the plates.

"well… they'll talk to us if they think they should… but if it's not something personal they should talk to Naruto-kun about it…"

"You're right about that, he's the Hokage after all, ne?" they both walked to the kitchen where the guys and the twins were and put the fool on the table.

"Itadakimasu!!" they all exclaimed and started eating.

"How's the meal Kyuuki-chan?? Ryuuki-kun??" Tenten asked loking at the twins.

"Really good!!" they exclaimed. "Arigato Tenten-nee-chan, Hinata-nee-chan!!" they concluded and resumed eating, the girls giggled.

* * *

**Please review my dear fans!! I love your reviews, they make me really happy!!**

**Luv ****you all, Kaori-chan!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**The 3rd chapter, hope everyone enjoys!!**

**Review everyone!! Please!!**

* * *

In the headquarters of a dangerous gang of criminals, someone is giving the leader new information.

"Why did you come back so soon??" the leader inquired annoyed.

"She isn't in Konoha anymore Leader. Neither is the shinobi she lives with or her kids." The s-rank missing-nin explained. Leader kept silent for a while.

"Thank you, I'll go see _him_ and then I'll give further instructions about the matter." The leader said as he walked out of the room.

"Hai." The shinobi replied bowing.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

The leader walked through the hallways of the mansion they used as headquarters until he reached a sealed room. He opened the door quietly and spotted the person he came to see right away.

The man was sitting on the floor in front of a low table next to the window having some tea.

The leader entered the room quietly and closed the door with a soft click.

The man put his cup down and looked at the door.

"Care to join me?" he asked calmly.

"Hai." The leader said almost in a whisper and sat down in front of the man.

They stayed silent drinking tea for a while. The leader sighed.

"It's been a while..." He said calmly and drank some more tea.

* * *

**E****lsewhere – Sakura's POV**

I feel relieved to be here, not that I don't trust everyone in Konoha… but… I feel safer being here with my best friend, I know he won't let anyone come near my tenshi.

Kyuuki-chan and Ryuuki-kun are playing with Ayame-kun, Temari and Shikamaru's son, he has spiky dirty blond hair and light brown eyes, he's as smart as a fox, and a bit lazy sometimes (not as much as Shikamaru obviously), and he likes to be superior in some way, like his mother, he hates being controlled.

They're playing in the toy room Temari-chan did for him, they seem happy, so I'll just go downstairs see everyone so we can discuss the matter of my nightmares.

Sakura entered the room and saw Sai and the Kazekage there.

"Yo." She greeted quietly.

"I showed Gaara-san the _'things_' while you were upstairs." Sai said. She nodded.

"Hai." She whispered and looked at the red haired man. He was thinking. She sat down next to them in silence.

"Sakura." She turned to Gaara, he was looking at the ceiling. "Do you have any idea of who it might be?" he asked quietly.

"Iie, I have no idea. All of us have enemies from our fights, but I don't see who would go this far."

"You'll be guarded 24/7 by my best ANBU and myself until we figure things out." He stated.

"I don't care about me, I'm worried about the twins." She whispered. Gaara nodded and turned to her.

"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to them." He said softly. "We didn't have so much work for nothing."

"Thank you Gaara-kun."

"_You won't get anything good from what you're doing."_ His words kept repeating in his mind.

"You called Leader?"

"Yes, you're gonna find out where she is."

"Hai. Anything else Leader?"

"No. Inform me as soon as you know where she is and if she is guarded."

"Hai, I'll be going then. If you'll excuse me."

* * *

**Missing-n****in assigned to find Haruno Sakura POV**

It was easy to sneak inside Konoha, they are so relaxed that they miss some spots in their shifts guarding the city. Can't blame them thought, they have a Jinchuuriki as a Hokage.

I enter a dark alley and use the Henge no Jutsu and transform myself into a regular un-suspicious person.

Luckily for me, my job just got easier, everyone is chatting about Haruno-san. I approach an old lady carrying a lot of bags and help her out, maybe I can get some info from her.

"Thank you young man!!" the lady says.

"It's nothing!" I say smiling, can't be suspicious, plus, I'm not a bastard kind of bad guy.

"Anou, do you know why everyone is talking about Haruno-san?" I ask casually.

"Oh, yes I do. The Kazekage-sama came to get her yesterday." I raise an eyebrow, the Kazekage??

"You see, Sakura-chan is a close friend to the young Kazekage, she saved his life when they were teenagers and they became friends." The old lady explained.

"Oh… I see."

"And yesterday he came to get her. That young man she lives with went too, he's a really good artist, his paintings are beautiful!!"

"Vacation perhaps?"

"Oh no young man, that young artist is always working!" I raised a confused brow.

"Always working? How come?"

"You see, that young boy was raised in the Root program." The lady started, by now we were sitting in her living room.

"Danzou-sama raised him in a very harsh way, the Root was a program from my time that was forbidden by the Hokage."

"Why so??"

"You see, all Root are raised so they have absolutely no emotions, and Sai-kun was raised that way. But after he came back from his first mission with Sakura-chan, Yamato-san and the Rukodaime-sama he started studying about emotions, I saw him a lot in the library, he read lots of books. I think he read all the books there were about emotions and psychology."

"Oh."

"That's not all, he studied hard, but he wasn't able feel, so everyone lost faith in him, he stopped coming to the library for weeks, he was 17 back then, until Sakura-chan told him she had faith!" the old lady smiled, seems Haruno-san is a good person.

"Haruno-san seems a good person." I commented.

"She is young man. Anyway, after Sakura-chan encouraged Sai-kun, he started studying even harder, I often saw the 2 of them there, Sakura-chan would show him how emotions were in real life!"

"I see… you told me he is always working?"

"Oh, yes… you see, he always protects Sakura-chan, even when they are bickering with one another he protects her. He is a very caring person, even if he doesn't shows!"

"I see, he reminds me of my boss." Leader may seem very harsh and cruel, but he actually has a good heart, he could have killed us all when he took over the organization, but he didn't, not because he needed us, because he… was merciful.

The old lady smiled and I urged her to go on, even if I am working and am a criminal, I still like to know more, I'm curious.

"She has very good children, she raised them well!!"

"So I heard, what are their names again? I keep forgetting." I half lied, if my thoughts are correct about Leader, we'll need their names for later.

"Adorable twins!! A boy and a girl, Ryuuki-kun and Kyuuki-chan!! Ryuuki-kun reminds me of Sakura-chan when she was little, shy and quiet, but also cheerful. And Kyuuki-chan is like, perhaps our young Hokage but less agitated, she is very energetic and cheerful!!" the old lady was nice and kept smiling.

"I see, so they are good kids huh?"

"Oh yes, the young Kazekage likes them very much, and they like him too, Gaara-sama doesn't looks the same when he has them in his arms, he smiles and plays with them!!"

"Did Gaara-sama take them to Suna?" I inquired casually, I'd like to stay and know more, but I should get going or Leader will kill me, not kill me kill me of course.

"Yes!! He said his nephew missed the twins and that Sakura-chan deserved some rest!"

"Oh, I see!" I smiled and got up. "Thank you for the hospitality, but I'll be going now!" the lady nodded and I started to walk away.

"Have a safe trip to where you're going young shinobi, and don't let yourself get caught by the guards!" the lady said as I left her house. Sneaky old woman, she knew from the start I wasn't a normal villager and that I wasn't from Konoha either, I assume she told me all of this because she knew I'm not gonna hurt anyone. Anyway, I'm off to Suna.

* * *

**Leader's POV**

"I repeat what I told you, you won't get anything good from what you're doing." He keeps repeating those words, damn him to hell. I'm the Leader and I do what I want.

"Why would I listen to you anyway?" I asked in annoyance as I opened the door to leave the sealed room. He kept drinking his tea peacefully while looking at the garden.

"What do you think she'll do if you kill someone close to her?" he asked back, I hate when he does that. I turned to him glaring.

"I'm not gonna kill anyone." I mutter almost in a whisper.

"Ok, what do you think she'll do if you kidnap her children?" why the hell does he always answers with a question? Can't he talk like normal people?

"Don't care, I hate betrayals." I stated. He chuckled.

"You hate betrayal but you betray." He stated coolly.

"Whatever." I muttered to him and left the room, he's a moron anyway.

I walk through the hallways to the living room where the subordinate cough slave cough I sent to check on her is with new info.

I enter the room and he bows lightly.

"So?" I ask, I don't want to wait.

"She's staying with the Kazekage." Just great, she's in Suna now.

"He has his best ANBU protecting her and the twins 24/7, when he finishes his work he's always near her and/or the kids." Is that so?? I have the right people to put my plan working.

"Hn." I send him away and sit down thinking.

Let's see, she's staying with the Kazekage, 24/7 surveillance. 2 kids, a replacement and her, plus the Kazekage and ANBU.

I need… distraction… easy and quick way to get away… water to slow the Gaara's sand jutsus… and… and… that's it!

Now… where are the people I need for this…

I get up and walk to the training area, as I expected, everyone's training.

"Deidara, Kisame." I called out coolly, they stopped sparing and looked at me.

"What is it Leader, yeah?" Deidara asked.

"We have a mission, the rest of you can't take 3 days off and… just take 3 days off."

"Hai." They all answered.

"Me too Leader?? Tobi is god boy and has nothing to do." Tobi, I kinda understand Deidara, he really gets on my nerves for being so dense sometimes. Sigh.

"You can stay guarding him."

"Hai Leader!!" Tobi exclaimed happily. Weird guy, anyway…

"We're leaving now, so you 2 get ready." I told Deidara and Kisame.

"Hai." They answered and went to get their things, and my plan begins now.

* * *

**Once again, please review and let me know if you liked it!!**

**Luv you all my dear readers, reviewers and fans,**

**Kaori-chan!!**


	4. Chapter 4

**After revising this story, i'm out of author's notes, so...**

**Well, I don't own Naruto!! Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto-san!!**

**Please review and let me know if you liked it!!**

* * *

**Dangerous organization being Akatsuki New Leader POV **

We reached Suna and I ordered Deidara and Kisame to get a good spot for camping without being noticed, and so they did.

As for me, I went for a little stroll through Suna, I used the Henge and concealed my chakra so no one knows who I am.

I walked calmly through the streets and spotted something interesting in a kid's playground, Sakura, Replacement-san, her kids and ANBU surveying them from not so far away.

The kids were playing in the swings, Sakura and Replacement-san are sitting in a bench chatting quietly. I smirk lightly, this is gonna be so easy.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

I walk quietly through the park and sit in a bench near the swings, and as I do so I get an idea. Thanks to one of my guys cough slaves cough, I know how to produce chakra strings and control things, like with a puppeteer. I make the chakra strings invisible and hook them in the boys swing. I casually move my fingers, and in a swift un-suspicious move, the boy was on the ground.

"Nii-chan!" the girl exclaimed in worry and jumped from the swing, then kneeling next to her brother.

"Itai." The boy whimpered softly nursing his knee. I looked at where Sakura was, and she was hurrying to her kids, time to move.

I got up and walked to the kids.

"Are you ok?" I ask quietly kneeling in front of them. They both look at me, the boy with watery eyes and the girl with a suspicious look.

"I s-scratched m-my k-knee." The boy whimpered softly and sniffled.

"Can I see??" thanks to another one of my slaves, who happens to be a girl, I learned how to heal minor injuries. The boy shyly showed me his knee, just a little scratch, nothing serious, with my peripheral vision I see Sakura watching me, I inwardly smirk, this is being easier than I thought.

I was about to heal the boy when the girl spoke.

"Who are you?? Kaa-chan told us not to talk to strangers." She said seriously while looking me up and down. I smile at her.

"Then let me introduce myself so we aren't strangers anymore!" she crossed her arms in front of herself, funny, reminds me of when I was a kid. "I'm Shisui!" I told her grinning, like an idiot if you ask me.

"Shisui??" she asks suspicious, she wants my full name, think Shisui what??

"Aoru Shisui!" she grinned.

"I'm Haruno Kyuuki!" she introduced with a wide grin.

"I-I'm Haruno Ryuuki!" the little boy introduced shyly with a smile. I nodded and healed his knee.

"Better now Ryuuki-kun?" he nodded and grinned.

"Arigato Shisui-onii-chan!!" Ryuuki exclaimed happily.

"It's nothing." I said shrugging. "Would you 2 like an ice cream??" I asked tilting my head.

"Hai!!" they exclaimed, I chuckled, they've got energy, though the girl is more energetic, the boy's more shy.

"It's ok, I'll buy them the ice cream, you don't have to bother." Came my blossom's sweet voice, I turned to her.

"It's nothing, really, I'm just doing this 'cause I want to, they seem nice kids." I said quietly and turned back to the kids while getting up.

"What flavours would you 2 like??"

"Vanilla and strawberry!!" the gaki cheered, I nodded and walked to the ice cream stand nearby, Sakura followed.

"Anou, you really don't have to." She said quietly.

"But I want to." I insisted. "Besides, it's not like I haven't got money." Oh yeah, being part of the Akatsuki, and having a huge heritage helps a lot in that department.

"Two vanilla and strawberry ice creams." I asked blankly to the man.

"Right away." Mattaku, having to pretend being a happy-go-lucky guy is a pain, sigh. Sakura stopped and looked at me.

"You seem familiar." She mumbled to herself, if I didn't have keen senses I wouldn't have heard it, I pretended not to hear, after all, she was just talking to herself.

"Here you go!" the man said, I paid and took the ice creams.

"What's your name again??" she asked as we walked to where the kids were again, I noticed Replacement-san never got his eyes off of her.

"Aoru Shisui." I said quietly, I transformed myself in a light brown haired guy with blue eyes. We arrived to where the kids were.

"Here you go!" I said smiling and handed them the ice cream.

"Arigato Onii-chan!!" they cheered

"I'm Haruno Sakura." She introduced, as polite as ever.

"They're your kids then." I stated.

"Hai, twins!" she said proudly. I nodded, so they are twins.

"They're energetic." I commented.

"Sometimes." She mumbled, I look at her through the corner of my eye, she's looking at her kids with a worried face, don't blame her, with a bad guy like me on the loose.

"I'll have to go now." I announced and started to walk away.

* * *

**Sakura's POV**

The twins are eating the ice cream Shisui-san gave them quietly in the sand box.

There's something about this guy, not his appearance, it's his aura, I can't feel his chakra signature, but… There's something about him.

"I'll have to go now." He said and started to walk away.

"Thank you for healing Ryuuki-kun!" I thanked politely, he turned around and shrugged.

"It's nothing." He said nonchalantly. He stopped walking and took something from his pocket. "Some guy told me to give you this." He said throwing me something, I caught it without problem, a fortune cookie.

"Thanks?" I looked at where Shisui-san was, he was no longer there. I walked back to the bench where Sai-kun is sitting.

"What's that?" he asked eyeing the fortune cookie.

"A cookie." I said and sat down. I broke it and like any other cookie like this, there was a small paper, my fortune.

I gave half of the cookie to Sai and we both ate our halves.

"Let's see what my fortune is!" I said jokingly and unfolded the paper. Sai leaned closer so he could see. The paper said.

_Flower of spring, your luck is about to change._

_Prepare to have a surprise, there might be an exchange._

_He'll take something from you, and take it out of range._

A riddle, but what does it means??

* * *

**Sai's POV**

_Flower of spring, your luck is about to change._

_Prepare to have a surprise, there might be an exchange._

_He'll take something from you, and take it out of range._

I reread the riddle, there's something fishy about it…

Flower of spring… damn, this guy's smart, he was here minutes ago and he even paid ice cream to the twins… I have a bad feeling about this riddle, no… this warning.

Sakura hasn't noticed yet, so I take the paper from her.

"It's just a stupid riddle, don't worry about it." I told her nonchalantly and put the paper in my pocket, I'll show it to Gaara later.

Flower of spring… haruno means spring and sakura is a flower… and the 'he' the riddle mentions, I bet it's the guy from before… damn, it's getting dangerous, if he can walk among us without bringing suspicion to anyone… but I'll find out who he is. Even if it's the last thing I do, I won't break the promise I made.

Let's see, if this guy's so smart, the code name he got may be a clue.

The kids walked to us with those huge happy-go-lucky grins that remind me of the dead-last Rukodaime a.k.a. Uzumaki Naruto.

"Did you guys like your ice cream??" Sakura asked smiling. They nodded vigorously.

"Hai!! Shisui-onii-chan" Kyuuki started.

"Was very nice!!" Ryuuki finished. So it's Shisui, I tough I heard something like that when he introduced himself, Aoru Shisui.

"Do you want to go home??" I asked quietly, they nodded.

* * *

**Later, Gaara's POV**

I walk out of the Kazekage office and to my misery and un-fortune, those idiotic stupid fan girls are there, I sigh, can't they just leave me alone??

"Kazekage-sama, aishiteru!"

"Gaara-kun, be my boyfriend!" they squeal in high pitched voices, damn it, now I have a headache.

"First of all, you're not allowed to call me Gaara-kun, and second, get lost you idiots." I tell them, they seem to melt to the floor anime style with really high pitched cries and wails, damn them all, I can't stand them, so I just pouf away, not actually pouf, more like disappear in a twirl of sand. I reappear in my living room, quiet, at last!!

I drop myself in the couch and close my eyes, nothing feels better than having some quiet after dealing with those high pitched idiot fan girls.

"Panda-onii-chan!!" I open my eyes and 2 flashes of black jump on me, I can't help myself but to smile at the 2 hugging me, though I'm not used to the pet name yet.

"Hey Gaara-kun!!" Sakura greeted with a smile.

"Yo." Sai greeted with a wave, usual, reminds me of their sensei, Kakashi.

"Onii-chan!! Onii-chan!! We ate ice cream today!!" Kyuuki exclaimed loudly.

"And we met a super cool onii-chan!!" Ryuuki continued.

"And he gave us ice cream!!"

"And he healed my knee because I fell from the swing and scratched it!!"

They were ecstatic while telling me their day, I don't really know why, but when they're like this, or even just forcing me to play with them, yes, because they really know how to _persuade_, I just feel like smiling and laughing and grinning, things I never did 'til the Shukaku was taken out of me. And you know what?? I really love these kids.

Sure I'm not their father, but still… when Sakura got pregnant it was a mess, she was happy, but she was also fearful of what would happen. We went through a lot of trouble, not just me, Sai and her too, but we did it, it's something some wouldn't be proud of doing, but we did it, and well… I'm actually happy we did. Who knows what would have happened if we didn't.

Kyuuki and Ryuuki, they're like a light, well… like their mother… a light… and to think it all started with Naruto on the Chuunins exam, that guy, after the all invasion thing, he told me he was my friend, he's… unique, to say the least.

"Onii-chan!! Anoune anoune… will you show us how to play with sand like you do??" Kyuuki asked with big shinning eyes, Ryuuki had the same expression. I leaned closer to them resting my elbows in my knees.

"Do you 2 know how to climb a tree without your hands yet??" they nodded vigorously.

"Does okaa-chan knows??" I asked with a raised brow. They once again nodded.

"I don't know… maybe I shouldn't." I tell them leaning back in the couch.

"Mou, you're mean onii-chan." They whined and ran to Sakura, tugging on her sleeves.

"Okaa-chan, Panda-onii-chan won't teach us how to play with sand like he does." They whined, she looked at them chuckling, then she looked at me with a look that said 'you-could-try'.

"Fine, come here." They ran back and sat in the floor in front of me looking at me with big shinning eyes.

I made some sand from my gourd come out and settle in the floor in front of them in a small pile. I got off of the couch and sat in the floor, legs crossed, in front of them.

"You know what chakra is??" they tilted their heads in slight confusion, I'll take it as a no.

"When you climb the tree, what do you do??"

"Etou, I make the flowy giggly thing stay on my feet so my feet can stick to the tree." Kyuuki said, Ryuuki nodded.

"To play with the sand you have to put the flowy giggly thing in the sand and then you have to make it do what you want." I explained the best way I could.

"Can you show us onii-chan??" Ryuuki asked. I nodded and put my hands over the sand, I didn't have to, but it's so they'll understand.

"You make the flowy giggly think go to your hands and then you make it stick to the sand." They nodded. I made 2 more small piles of sand settle in front of each of them.

"After the flowy giggly thing is in the sand you only have to think about what you want the sand to do while the flowy giggly thing is in the sand." They nodded again and started trying, I have to say, they're prodigies. They learned how to climb trees a few weeks ago, and they're only 4.

"I'm gonna get a glass of water!" Sakura says and leaves the living room, as she does so, Sai comes and sits next to me.

* * *

**Kisame's POV**

Me and Deidara set up the camp, Leader said he's be back later.

Deidara made some clay spiders and set them around the camp to detect if someone is coming. The é of us are currently sitting in the sand waiting for Leader.

"Don't you think it's strange?? I mean… what's the big deal if that Haruno girl his married and has kids…yeah…" I turn my head to face Deidara.

"I actually don't know, but we better do as Leader says, I saw what he did to Itachi-san, it wasn't pretty, and back then he was still a teenager." Deidara crossed his arms in front of himself.

"Still… what is Leader planning to do??... yeah… from what Ryo-san told me, Leader is going to kidnap Haruno or her kids, he didn't really know." Deidara was staring at the sky, I share his opinion, what is Leader planning?? What will he profit from kidnapping some gaki??

"Maybe it's personal, yeah." Deidara mumbled, I raised a brow.

"Personal??" He nodded.

"Maybe he wants to make Haruno suffer for something she did to him or something." No 'yeah' at the end, means he's in deep thought.

"Maybe you're right. Akira-san told me Leader only sent him to spy her at first, but then he told me Leader didn't really like to know that she had kids and lived with someone and that's when he started to…" I trailed off, everyone knows what happened next.

"We'll see what happens next." We both looked up and saw Leader walking casually towards us, he had a calm expression. Deidara paled, we were talking about Leader just like that.

"I don't mind if you talk about what I do or don't do, everyone has the right to have his own opinion." Leader stated nonchalantly and sat down in front of us. Deidara let out a sigh of relief, I'm actually relieved as well.

"Can I ask something Leader?" I ask quietly.

"Hn."

"What are we supposed to do in specific?" it's been in my mind since we left HQ.

"You'll use the jutsu that allows you to control the density of water in the air so Gaara won't be able to properly use his sand." He stated. "As for Deidara, you'll use your clay to make all the ANBU around them unconscious. Kisame'll also use his water prison justsu to imprison Kirikae-san, I'll take care of Sakura and the kids. We'll get away with Deidara's clay birds." Leader explained in a monotone voice. I nodded in understadment.

"Can I also ask something Leader??" Deidara asked in a quiet reluctant voice. Leader gave a curt nod.

"Well… What is the purpose of this mission if I may ask?" I eyed Deidara, he was nervous, I tuned to Leader, he had a blank expression and was looking at the sky. Leader stayed silent for a while, when I thought he wouldn't answer, he spoke.

"You will know in due time." Was Leader's answer. Deidara nodded.

After a while Deidara turned to me.

"Let's play poker, yeah." I raised a brow at him. "What?? I'm bored, yeah." He defended, I rolled my eyes.

"Fine." Deidara grinned and took a pack of cards from a pocket in his cloak. I glanced at Leader, he was lying in the sand looking at the sky, a smirk on his face, I oner what he's thinking.

Deidara shuffled the cards and then distributed. Oh great a pair of 3, an ace, a 2 and a 7, what am I supposed to do with a hand like this??

Deidara seems to have a nice hand of cards, he's grinning, lucky bastard.

"Oh Kisame!!" Deidara called in a sing song voice, I eyed him.

"What??"

"I've got a straight, yeah!" he grinned and showed me his cards, I put mine down.

"I'm shuffling next." I said taking the cards.

* * *

**2 hours later Deidara's POV (**A/N: Deidara's thoughts don't always have the 'yeah' at the end of his sentences, that's only when he talks and isn't being really serious.)

"Damn it." Kisame cursed.

"What is it Salmon-chan?? Don't like loosing??" I mocked, he glared at me, can't blame, we've been playing for 2 hours and he only won a couple of times.

He took the cards and shuffled, he gave me my cards and I grinned… Lucky, I've got another wonderful hand.

We made our bets. Our bets are made in sake bottles, at this point, kisame owns me 19 bottles of sake.

"Salmon-chan!!" Kisame glared at me. "Show, yeah!" he muttered some curses and showed me his cards while huffing and crossing his arms in front of him, I inwardly laughed, I don't want Kisame attacking me just like that. He has a 2, a 4, a queen, an ace and a 7.

I put my cards down so he can see.

"You own me 20 bottles of sake Salmon-chan!" I cheered, Kisame muttered some curses and glared at the floor.

"Fine." He finally muttered, I grinned, I had a straight flush, so I won again. Seeing the look on Kisame's face, I put the cards away.

"Leader?" Leader cracked one eye open meaning I had his attention. "When will we act?? yeah… so we can know when to go and prepare everything."

"Tomorrow morning." Leader stated.

"Hai." With that we ate something and went to sleep.

* * *

**The next day – early morning – normal POV**

3 figures dressed in black moved in the shadows to where the group of people was.

Sakura, Sai, Gaara and the twins were in the Kazekage's mansion. They were in the garden, the twins were playing around, Sai, Sakura and Gaara were sitting around a table talking while looking at said kids.

"Kisame." Leader spoke, Kisame nodded and made a series of hand seals.

"Suiton: tei mizu noukoui: koumitsu." (Water element: air water density: high density.)

Around the group the water density in the air went to the maximum, any jutsu with sand would be 100 times slower due to the sand becoming 100 times heavier, it was the effect of the jutsu. And a good thing about the jutsu, it was un-noticeable, only the most experienced shinobi who could control the jutsu knew when it was being used and in which degree.

"Deidara." Leader spoke again, so said nodded and several clay spiders moved to where the ANBU were surveying the group, there were 7 ANBU in total, well hide, but they saw them all. Deidara's clay spiders would only put the ANBU unconscious from the explosion.

Leader made some hand seals and involved the kids in a jutsu that made them oblivious to their surrounding, in this case to what would happen to the other 3.

"Hijutsu: mawari shitsunen." (Secret arts: surroundings oblivion.) An invisible wave of chakra involved the kids without anyone noticing.

"Deidara, you get the kids and when I give the signal blow the spiders." Deidara nodded and moved so he could be closer to the kids and see the Leader.

"Kisame, you come with me." They moved and before they stepped out of the shadows, Leader gave the signal, with a simple hand seal Deidara did as he was told.

"Katsu." The spiders exploded, making all the ANBU unconscious like planed, the group assumed fighting senses, the kids didn't notice.

The 3 Akatsuki came out of the shadows, Deidara near the kids, Kisame and Leader in front of the group, preventing them from getting to the twins.

"I told you not to tell anyone did I not??" Leader spoke in a cold and eerie voice. "But you had to g and tell your dear friends about it." He stated, Sakura stared at him, fear and hatred in her eyes.

Gaara tried to attack with his sand but found it impossible.

"You won't be able to use your sand Kazekage." Kisame stated. "The effect of my jutsu is making sand 100 times heavier, making it impossible to use.

"You bastard." Sai muttered darkly and attacked the Leader, who evaded.

"Kisame." Leader spoke, so said nodded and made some hand selas.

"Suiro no jutsu." A water globe involved Gaara and Sakura making them unable to fight.

In the meanwhile, Sai was attacking Leader, who was dodging everything.

"How are you enjoying your life Kirikae-san?" Leader asked in amusement from under his mask. (A/N: Kirikae means replacement.)

"I'm not a replacement." Sai hissed and summoned some ink tigers.

The tigers attacked.

"Do you think such a trivial thing will work on me?? Give me some credit, I'm the Leader of Akatsuki." Leader stated and in a swift move he threw senbon at all the tigers, making them a puddle of ink.

Sai kept attacking, but due to his anger being controlling him he wasn't fighting properly.

"Let's end this." Leader stated in boredom and in a swift movement he kicked Sai backwards, as soon as this one was near the imprisoned other 2 he was involved in a water globe, like the other 2.

Leader calmly walked to where Sakura was and with a wave of his hand, her prison disappeared, she fell forward and Leader caught her. She coughed a few times and as soon as she recovered from almost drowning she jumped back.

"Who are you?? What do you want from me??" she yelled angrily. He tilted his head.

"You know…" he started and in a movement of his hand, without her knowledge, he put chakra wires in her so he could control her, like a puppeteer. "I was surprised when I found out the dead last became Hokage." He said casually and walked closer, she tried to move but couldn't.

"Now now Blossom." He said shaking his hand and making the chakra wires visible. "I see you and Kireke-san have been having fun."

"He's not a replacement." She hissed, he chuckled and stopped in front of her, their bodies almost touching, looking down at her. He ignored her statement.

"I thought you would keep your word, but I see you didn't." he stated in his usual cold voice.

"What do you mean?? What do you want from me??" she inquired desperate, her voice cracking.

"Didn't you read the riddle I gave you?? Flower of spring, your luck is about to change. Prepare to have a surprise, there might be an exchange. He'll take something from you, and take it out of range." He said coolly. "You see, Ryuuki-kun and Kyuuki-chan are doing for a little ride with someone." He said with a smirk.

"Who?? Kisame?? The ANBU will catch him right aw-" Leader cut her off.

"You see, I didn't only bring Kisame, I also brought Deidara with me, and you see Blossom, by exploding some clay spiders he made all the ANBU around you unconscious, and right now he's talking to your precious tenshi." He stepped a bit aside and her eyes widened in shock, Deidara was with the twins showing them a clay bird.

"Who are you??" she cried, some tears flowing down her eyes.

The Leader of Akatsuki." He paused and with his free hand he cleaned her tears. "It seems I still make you cry." He muttered to himself, her eyes widened in shock.

"You… you're-" he put a finger over her lips.

"So you figured it out huh? Took you long enough." He muttered in amusement, he glanced at Sai and Gaara, they were unconscious.

"You can let them go Kisame." He said nonchalantly.

"Are you sure Leader??"

"They won't be a treat unconscious." Kisame nodded and the globes of water around Sai and Gaara disappeared, so said fell to the floor.

"What are you going to do Sakura??" he asked as a clay bird landed behind him. "Pursue me??" he asked, Kisame got on the clay bird. "Or heal them??" he asked again, with his free hand he cupped her cheek.

"Please do tell me, what will you do??" he let her go and with a jump he was on the clay bird. Sakura looked at the 3 men unconscious on the floor and then at the clay bird above them where Deidara and the twins were, the twins were grinning and giggling, Deidara was also grinning.

"Why aren't they-" again Leader cut her off.

"I put them on a jutsu in which they won't notice our fights." He paused seeing her desperate look. "And Deidara is very good with kids, that's why they're not disturbed."

The bird where Kisame and Leader were started ascending in the skies and all Sakura could do was look.

"We'll meet again." Was the last thing she heard from the Leader as the birds flew away.

She fell to the floor crying and cursing herself for being so weak. Still crying she crawled to her best friends and healed them.

* * *

**Once again, I only have one thing to ask, please review telling me what you think of my story!! It really helps me improve my writing!!**

**I think this was the longest chapter I've did, I have to say I was really inspired, and it's one of the best I've done!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it belong to Kishimoto-san!!**

**Please review and tell me your opinions!! It always helps!!**

* * *

**Previously on The secret behind:**

23 year old Haruno Sakura is being spied on by a dangerous S-rank missing-nin.

Said nin discovers she is a mother and lives with Sai, and leaves her a 'gift', as he so fondly calls it.

Gaara is informed of this and goes to get her.

At her stay in Suna with the twins, Reijin Kyuuki and Yuki Kyuuki, and Sai, something that crushes her happens.

Our S-rank missing-nin reveals himself to be the new leader of Akatsuki, and for some reason, the members Kisame and Deidara are alive, something strange seeing Deidara had been killed previously (see manga).

The Leader talks to the twins and the day after he does so, he reveals himself to Sakura and the others, involving the twins in a jutsu that makes them oblivious to the fight among the adults, and giving Deidara the chance to get close to the kids.

As Sakura realises who the Leader is, he goes away on a clay bird with Kisame, the kids being in another clay bird with Deidara, and in a good mood.

* * *

**Chapter ****5**

**Flying to Akatsuki HQ - Kisame's POV**

I never thought it'd be so easy to defeat those 3, well, they weren't expecting my jutsu either, or Leaders', or even Deidara being good with kids, but we have the kids, and they can't track us down.

I look at my left, Leader is standing looking ahead of him with a poker face, meaning either he's in deep thought or is just wanting to get this over with.

I wonder what he's planning to do now, I mean, ok, we have the kids, but what happens next??

Even if I want to know, I'm not just gonna ask Leader, he'll tell us what to do next.

I look ahead of myself and see Deidara's bird, he's sitting in the bird holding a sleeping Ryuuki, while Kyuuki is on her knees at the edge of the bird, bending and watching as we fly, from time to time giggles from the girl and Deidara's laughter can be heard.

* * *

**Deidara's POV**

Only a couple of hours 'til we get to HQ, Ryuuki fell asleep a few hours ago, Kyuuki is still wide awake while looking down and around us as we fly.

It wasn't as easy as you may think to get the kids, they're smart and I couldn't just use violence with them.

* * *

**Flashback**

As Leader gave the sign, I made the clay spiders explode so the ANBU are unconscious and approached the kids, who were playing randomly with the sand. They stopped and looked at me.

"Who are you?" they asked at the same time, I grinned.

"I'm Deidara, yeah!!" the girl, Kyuuki, stood up and looked me up and down.

"What are you doing here??" she asked, her hands crossed in front of herself, Ryuuki stood up too.

"And what are you doing in Panda-onii-chan's garden??" I chuckled, they're smart ones.

"I saw you 2 playing and I was wondering if I could play with you, yeah!" I said with a grin.

"You're a grown up." Ryuuki started.

"And grown ups don't ask us to play with them." Kyuuki finished, I pouted and sat down, legs crossed.

"But I like playing, yeah." I mumbled, still pouting. The twins giggled.

"Ok, you can play with us!!" the answered and sat in front of me, I grinned again, I like playing, a lot, so why can't I play huh?? I'm a big kid inside ok??

"What were you 2 playing?" I asked and looked at them. "And what's your names , yeah?" can't just call them by their names if they didn't even told them to me.

"Etou, we were playing castles, but it's boring after a while." Kyuuki said. "And I'm Kyuuki!!" she grinned widely. What a cute girl, seriously, she's cute, and you hentai people stop thinking bad things, I'm not a paedophile, I like woman my age, thank you very much, but that doesn't mean I can't say someone is cute, I'm an artist after all, I'm supposed to see beauty.

"I'm Ryuuki!" Ryuuki said quietly smiling. I nodded.

"Since you 2 don't know what you want to play, I'll show you something, yeah!!" I grinned and put my hand in my bag, taking some clay out.

"Do you like birds, yeah??" they nodded, their eyes shinning in anticipation. With the mouth in my hand I started moulding the clay, their eyes widened, I gulped silently. Since I was a kid I've had this kekkai genkai, and every time someone saw it was the same.

"_Bakemono, get away from us."_

"_You're a monster, I hate you."_

"_Stay away from him, he's a monster."_

"_Look, it's the freak."_

"_Go away you freak, we don't play with people like you."_

"_Don't look at him sweetie, he's a monster."_

I shook my head, sending my memories away and looked at the twins in front of me somehow fearfully. Their eyes were wide and shinning.

"That's soooooo cool!!" they squealed and crawled closer to see, I sighed in relief, they think it's cool.

"It's my kekkai genkai, yeah!" the mouth in my hand put the clay out in the shape of a bird, one of the ones I use to fly when I make them bigger.

"So cool!!" they exclaimed happily, liking their reactions towards my kekkai genkai and my clay bird, I decided to do more, with a one handed hand seal, the bird started flying around them. They were giggling and trying to catch it.

"Wanna see something even cooler??" they stopped to look at me, their eyes shinning and nodding vigorously, I grinned.

"Keep looking at the bird, yeah!" they nodded and looked at the bird, with another seal I made the bird get bigger.

"WOW!!" they squealed. "That's so cool Dei-onii-chan!!" my grin widened.

"Wanna go for a ride, yeah??" they turned to me.

"We can??" Kyuuki asked. I nodded.

"Really??" Ryuuki asked again. I nodded again.

"YAY!!" they squealed, I landed the bird and they climbed over it, they looked the way the fight between Leader an the others was and grinned, they couldn't see the fight, so I presume that in the illusion, Haruno let them what they were about to do.

**End of flashback**

* * *

Ryuuki stopped looking down and looked at me.

"Anoune." I raised a brow at her, she got up and stared at me, changing her balance from one foot to the other, her hands in front of her fidgeting with her baby blue dress.

"Can we stop??" she looked nervous.

"Why, yeah??" I inquired, she walked closer to me and leaned to my ear.

"I need t-to go t-to the b-bathroom.' She whispered, her face reddening in embarrassment, and looked down, I smiled and truend to the bird behind mine where Leader was.

"Leader." I called out, he looked at me, meaning I have his attention. "Could we make a quick stop??" Leader simply stared at me, through the corner of my eyes I could see Kyuuki shifting from foot to foot nervously.

"Why?" Leader asked blankly, he didn't seem wiling to stop. I turned to Kyuuki lightly.

"You'll have to ask Leader if we can stop." She nodded an dlooked at leader with big pleading puppy eyes.

"Can we stop please??" he raised a brow at her, and her face started to become even more flushed. "I-I need t-to g-go t-to t-the b-bathr-room." She stuttered, never breaking eye contact with him.

"5 minutes." Leader stated blankly, I could see Kisame looked worriedly at Kyuuki and then sighing in relief. I nodded and made the birds go down, mine landed, while Leaders simply stood flying next to the ground.

Kyuuki climbed down in a hurry and ran to hide behind a tree, obviously she would do that since there were only men with her, and I have the feeling that even if it were only women that she would go hide from watching eyes as well.

2 minutes later Kyuuki came back grinning, and climbed back on the bird.

"Arigatou Dei-onii-chan!!" she said and pecked my cheek, I smiled, she's sweet.

"Ya welcome Kyuuki-chan, but you should thank Leader, he was the one that let us stop, yeah." I told her as the bird went back to it's flying, she nodded and looked back at Leader.

"Arigatou Leader-onii-chan!!" she exclaimed and waved, Leader stared blankly at her at before smirking.

* * *

**Ariving to Akatsuki HQ – Leader's POV**

We arrived to Akatsuki HQ, Kyuuki was awake the whole trip, as for Ryuuki, he woke up minutes before we arrived.

We started walking inside, Deidara's clay birds gone in an explosion in high sky.

"Dei-onii-chan, I'm hungry." I heard Ryuuki say quietly.

"Tell Hana to make something for them." I ordered.

"Hai Leader." Deidara replied and led the kids inside.

"You can go and do whatever you want until your next mission Kisame." The blue faced man nodded and went another way. I entered the huge Akatsuki mansion and walked down the hallway going to the sealed room.

I sigh, the twins are gonna stay in the sealed room with _him_, and now I just remembered something, I'll have to listen to _his_ speeches when I enter that room, I can't wait. (note the sarcasm here.)

Well, I don't care, he can't do anything against me now, a smirk makes way to my face, I'm the Leader of Akatsuki, not him.

I stop in front of the big wooden door and take a deep breath, here goes.

I open the door and get inside closing the door behind me. The man inside is sitting in the tatami floor in front of the low wooden table and, as I usually find him, drinking tea. He was about to talk, but I didn't let him.

"Keep you speeches to yourself, I don't want to ear them." He closed his mouth and shrugged lightly.

"How can you know what I was about to say, when I never spoke." He had to, he just had to say something. Bastard. And it wasn't even a question, it was a statement.

"I just do, it's always something about how I shouldn't do what I did, or about what will someone think, or something in the type." He chuckled lightly.

"You're wrong." He stated and took a sip of his tea.

"Wrong?? Then enlighten me." I said getting closer to him.

"I was simply going to ask you when you are going to put her children in this room." He said it as if it were nothing, I wonder why I didn't kill him. "I am looking forward to meet them." I clenched my fists and took a deep breath.

"Deidara's with them, Hana should be doing something for them to eat." He gave a curt nod.

"Hana-san was nice enough o bring me tea this afternoon, although I could feel she wasn't sure she wanted to enter the room I am in." he took another sip of his tea.

"She is afaraid of me." He stated and looked at me over his shoulder. "You should order someone else to bring me the daily things, she would be very relieved if you did." He turned back to the garden in front of him.

"I'll do as I please, and yu're not gonna order me around." I spat out, and walked out slamming the door behind me, I could still hear his last remark lightly.

"You're being foolish."

* * *

**Akatsuki's medic-nin, Hana**

**She had light brown hair and brown eyes, a calm personality and when with Deidara or some other Akatsuki she is goofy.**

* * *

**Normal POV**

Deidara took the twins to the kitchen and told them to wait as he went to get Hana.

"Kawaii!!!" a squeal was heard when Hana entered the kitchen, the twins turned to her as she walked closer to them.

"I'm Hana!!" she grinned. "And you 2 must be Kyuuki-chan and Ryuuki-kun, ne?" the twins nodded while smiling.

"What would you 2 like to eat??" the twins looked at each other and grinned. They turned back to Hana, still grinning.

"Ramen!!" the exclaimed, Deidara chuckled, Hana laughed and the twins giggled.

A light brown haired man with piercing in his nose and eerie grey eyes stood in a tree branch looking as the new Akatsuki Leader walked past him. Suddenly he stopped.

"If you want to ask something just do it Akira." The man jumped from the branch and landed gracefully next to the leader.

"I was wondering, precisely, what are your plans with Akatsuki??" Akira asked mischievously. "I mean, what are you planning to do with 2 gaki?" Leader stared blankly at the man.

"What I do or don't do is not of your business Akira, you were the leader before, and I defeated you, you should be grateful I didn't kill you and let you keep an Akatsuki, the man shrugged.

"Should I take that as a threat?" Leader shrugged.

"Take it the way you wish, but I assure you, if you try to mees with what I do, you will not live long." Leader started to walk away, and Akira just watched with an amused smirk.

"You do not scare me, you never did." Akira stated. "I am not afraid not of you neither of your sharingan Uchiha."

"Do not test my patiente." Leader hissed, Akira chuckled and in a pouf of smoke he was gone.

* * *

**Suna**

The pink haired medic healed her friends, but after that she locked herself in her room.

Sai and Gaara would have said something, but they couldn't find anything to say.

"Do you have a plan??" Sai asked, his face buried in his hands. Gaara sighed.

"We'll have to wait." He answered and closed his eyes, he should've been more prepared, Sai was thinking the same thing. Both males were blaming themselves for what happened.

* * *

**Please review!! I love knowing what you think about what ****I write!!**

**And it helps me improve my writing!!**

**Luv you all, Kaori-chan!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**My dear readers and reviewers and fans, please review and let me know what you think about my story, it really helps!!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-san!!**

* * *

**Previously on The secret behind:**

23 year old Haruno Sakura is being spied on by a dangerous S-rank missing-nin.

Said nin discovers she is a mother and lives with Sai, and leaves her a 'gift', as he so fondly calls it. Gaara is informed of this and goes to get her.

At her stay in Suna with the twins, Reijin Kyuuki and Yuki Ryuuki, and Sai, something that crushes her happens.

Our S-rank missing-nin reveals himself to be the new leader of Akatsuki, and for some reason, the members Kisame and Deidara are alive, something strange seeing Deidara had been killed previously (see manga).

The Leader talks to the twins and the day after he does so, he reveals himself to Sakura and the others, involving the twins in a jutsu that makes them oblivious to the fight among the adults, and giving Deidara the chance to get close to the kids.

As Sakura realises who the Leader is, he goes away on a clay bird with Kisame, the kids being in another clay bird with Deidara, and in a good mood.

As they arrive Akatsuki HQ, Kisame goes his own way, while Deidara takes the kids to the kitchen so they can eat something. Once there he goes to get Hana, who, the moment she seen the twins, squeals saying they're 'kawaii'.

In the meanwhile, Leader goes to the sealed room to talk to _him_ and they have a 'confrontation'.

As Leader walks through the garden, Akira, the previous Leader of Akatsuki, confronts him. Leader tells him not to test his patience, but his answer comes in the form of 'I do not fear you or your sharingan' followed by a chuckle.

* * *

**Chapter ****6**

Hana prepared some ramen for the twins and they ate it happily, so far so good, they were happy and were enjoying themselves.

In the corner of the kitchen looking at the twins were Deidara and Hana.

"What do you think Leader'll do now??" Deidara sighed, his eyes on the cute twins eating happily.

"I have no idea, yeah." He muttered and sighed again. Hana had a frown forming.

"I really wonder what he'll do, I mean, he's only 23 and he's already so… so…" she paused, searching an adequate word. "Hollow inside." She whispered with a sigh. Deidara nodded lightly.

"I can't complain." Deidara said in a serious tone, Hana raised a brow at his statement.

"You're new so you probably don't know, but…" he paused. "After we caught the Shukaku, Sasori-danna was killed by Tsunade's apprentice." Hana nodded.

"I already know about that." He gave a curt nod before continuing.

"Months after that, I fought against Uchiha Sasuke and was killed." He said it so plainly that Hana just stared at him in disbelief, her mouth slightly opened.

"What do you mean killed?? You're here, alive." He laughed lightly.

"Before you entered Akatsuki 2 years ago, I guess Leader saw some use in myself." She had a quizzed look, not really understanding what he meant. "When Leader was 19 he resurrected me." Her eyes became as big as saucers.

"Seriously??? How??" she asked after composing herself.

"From what Salmon-chan told me, Leader used a forbidden technique that uses chakra from the Jinchiriki and that doesn't needs sacrifices so the resurrected can stay alive, the chakra reconstitutes the body and the soul is summoned from the world of the dead." Hana stayed quiet. "Sasori-danna told me about the technique, Orochimaru developed it, but he wasn't able to finish it, he didn't have the abilities needed to do so." Hana shifted her position so she was facing the twins again.

"I'm one lucky bastard, yeah!!" he said grinning, but his eyes said his grin wasn't that cheery.

"Deidara-sempai." Hana whispered as Deidara's face became blank as he looked at the twins. He sighed and closed his blue eyes for a few seconds.

"I don't know what my purpose is anymore." He muttered in a whisper as he opened his eyes again.

* * *

The sun was going down, allowing the silver moon to rule over the shinning silver stars in the incoming dark clear night.

And as the sun went away, the eyes of the imprisoned man stared at the yellow, orange, pink and purple hues in the sky.

He couldn't say what was happening to him wasn't what he deserved, because he deserved worst than being confined in a sealed room.

The door creaked open, a nervous light brown haired girl entering the room, not sure if she should go inside and put the tray with dinner in the table or just let it drop to the floor and run away slamming the door shut.

Gulping silently she took a step forward, her eyes on the floor, she was too scared of this man to look at his face.

"Hana-san." She looked up a bit, stopping in place, her gaze fell on his turned back. "You can just leave the tray in the table near the door." He said in his always composed tone, not a trace of emotion could be noticed.

She gulped again and did as he said, she put the tray in the table next to the door and hurried to the door, before she closed it, he spoke again, never turning to her.

"Hana-san, you do not need to fear me, I have no intentions on hurting you." She thought his words carried a small hint of some sort of emotion, but she dismissed it, blaming her brain for it and closed the door in a sift click.

As she walked down the hallway, she sighed, she didn't like being the one to do that, the man in the sealed room scared her to death, his past was one she didn't even dare think about.

The man wearing navy blue and white got up, breaking his gaze on the well taken care off garden and walked to his dinner. Taking the tray he walked back to the low table and got comfortable.

He looked at his diner to see some onigiri and sushi, his favourite food, simple and healthy.

He silently thanked for his food and started eating calmly, he had all the time in the world anyway.

* * *

"Onii-chan!!" Kyuuki called from where she was seating in the garden, Deidara looked up from the sculpture he was doing with a raised brow.

"What is it, yeah??" he asked quietly, his gaze shifting from Kyuuki to his sculpture.

"It's getting dark outside." She remarked.

"And Kaa-chan says that when it gets dark outside we have to go to bed." Ryuuki continued from where he was.

"Oh." Deidara mumbled and looked at his sculpture again. "I'll take you to bed in a moment." He mumbled and continued focussing on his sculpture, finishing a few details.

Hana watched from a tree branch, she found herself thinking Deidara might have have been a good father if he had had children.

"Deidara-sempai!" she called, seeing he had finished his sculpture, he looked at her.

"What is it Hana, yeah??"

"Where are they staying??" she asked and beckoned the kids to come closer.

"Sealed room, yeah." He stated and in a hand seal his sculpture was a kanji in a scroll.

"Oh." She shivered lightly thinking who else was inside the sealed room.

"I'll take them." He said quietly, well aware she was scared to death of the man. "Come here kids." He beckoned, the kids grinned and ran to him, throwing themselves into his arms, hugging him.

"Hana." Said girl looked at him. "Can you bring me a futon?" she nodded and smiled.

"Sure Deidara-sempai!!" she walked away and Deidara got up, the twins in his arms.

"Did yu have fun today??" he asked as they walked inside.

"Hai!!" the twins exclaimed at the same time and hugged him again, he couldn't help himself but grin, it felt good, to be liked.

"You'll sleep in the same room as an old… friend of mine ok?" the twins nodded.

When he reached the sealed room Hana was walking down the hallway with a futon and 2 pillows.

"Thanks Hana, yeah!!" Hana smiled and walked away, leaving the futon and the pillows next to the door.

Deidara put the twins down and opened the door, the eerie man was sitting on the floor, looking at the garden.

"Hey." Deidara greeted quietly, the man stayed silent. Deidara took a few steps, and then noticed the kids were at the door, peeking, and looking fearfully at the man.

"You can come in, he's not a bad guy, yeah." Deidara reassured. _"He's just ruthless."_

The twins stared at Deidara for a few seconds before entering, Kyuuki first and Ryuuki behind her.

The room fell silent as Deidara started preparing the futon.

Kyuuki stayed next to Deidara, but Ryuuki risked, he walked quietly to stand next to the man.

"Anoune onii-chan." He called quietly. "Where are you looking at??" the man looked at him through the corner of his eyes.

"The garden." Ryuuki nodded and shifted lightly.

"I like looking at the flowers, they're pretty." The man glanced at the 4 year old again, and faintly smiled, a very very small smile, barely noticeable.

"They aren't just pretty, they also hide many things."

Deidara looked at the eerie man from the doorway, and smiled as the usually silent man with what seemed to be a 'stay-away' dangerous aura surrounding him, talked quietly with Ryuuki.

"I'll be going now, yeah." He announced and was about to leave.

"Tuck me in Dei-nii-chan!!" Kyuuki grinned, he smiled and walked to her lying form on the futon.

"Ok, oyasumi Kyuuki-chan!" he grinned and tucked the small girl in, leaving the other side of the futon for Ryuuki.

"Oyasumi Ryuuki-kun!" Ryuuki turned to him smiling.

"Oyasumi Dei-nii-chan!!" Deidara closed the door and walked away.

Ryuuki yawned and walked to the empty space on the futon.

"Oyasumi nii-chan." The eerie man looked at the small boy and nodded.

A few minutes later he looked at the sleeping children, they reminded him of someone, but he couldn't quite put a finger on who they reminded him.

* * *

Knock knock

Sai slowly opened the door to see Sakura in the bed, curled in a ball, breathing calmly, staring blankly at the wall.

"Sakura." He whispered and walked closer to her, she remained still.

The best artist nin of Konoha sighed and knelt down in front of the pink haired lady, she didn't even acknowledged him.

"Please say something." He pleaded, she merely blinked, but didn't look at him. He smiled sadly and ran his index finger from her forehead, down her cheek and stopped at her neck, where he let his hand rest, feeling her slow pulse.

"We're doing everything we can." He whispered and leaned closer to her, his hand cupped her cheek and made her look at him. "So please don't close yourself up."

She stared at his eyes for what seemed like an eternity.

"…he took them…" she whispered, Sai bit the inside of his cheek and sat in the bed.

"We'll find them, Gaara is taking care of everything." She sniffed and looked up at him, her usually life filed emerald green eyes void.

"We'll find them, and next time we'll beat him up, I promise." She blinked, looking like a lost child needing reassurance. "I promise." He whispered and laid on the bed next to her, holding her close to him, his face on the crook of her neck. "I promise." He closed his eyes and tried to swallow his emotions. "We'll bring them back." She moved her hands and grabbed his shirt, her face buried on his shoulder.

"…really?" he wound his arms around her slim waist and held her closer.

"Sound and safe." He reassured. "They'll be okay." She sniffed.

"He had no right." She whispered angrily, warm tears falling down on his shirt. "He had no right." She sobbed and clutched the fabric of his shirt in his hands tighter.

"We'll bring them back, and we'll make him pay. I promise."

* * *

The Leader of Akatsuki ran through the forest in his black outfit, black pants, shoes and turtle neck tank top. In his right wrist was a tribal tattoo. He stopped in the last tree, his eyes on the dark sky full of silver stars, the shinning moon to his left.

"Kaze." He muttered as a small breeze flew by. His eyes shifted and he stared ahead of him. "Sand." He could vaguely see Suna in the horizon, but it could also be because he knew where Suna was and what it looked like.

He sighed heavily and looked back at the forest, he had to go back, he had a desk full of paperwork, missions to assign, people to order, things to take care of.

It wasn't as easy as one would think to be the Leader of Akatsuki, he dared to compare the position of Leader of Akatsuki with the position of Hokage. He had to protect his people, paperwork to do, and he did what some would never do, he took those that society rejected and gave them a place, he gave them a 'somewhere where they could belong'.

He took one last glance on the seemingly infinite desert, and then started to go back, this time in a slower pace than the one with which he had come here.

"Why did it have to become this way?" he asked no one in particular as he kept jumping from tree branch to tree branch.

* * *

"Alpha 1, here is Delta 3, I saw the target." A ANBU whispered into the earpiece. "Do I follow him?? Over."

"Delta 3, here is Alpha 1, negative, I repeat, negative. Do not follow him. Over."

"Roger Alpha 1. What do I do?? Over." There was some shuffling from the other side of the line.

"Cast the trailing jutsu."

"Roger." The ANBU did some hand seals and whispered and inaudible jutsu on the Leader.

"Kazekage-sama, Delta 3 reporting." The Kazekage sat patiently behind his desk for the ANBU to continue.

"Alpha 1 spotted the target and, just like you ordered, he cast the trailing jutsu and did not follow him." The Kazekage nodded.

"Good job, this remains classified, no information is to be leaked, no talking about this to anyone."

"Hai Kazekage-sama." The man said bowing.

"Dismissed." The ANBU bowed and in a pouf of smoke was gone. Gaara sighed in relief and then smirked.

"Gotcha you bastard." He muttered darkly and disappeared in a twirl of sand.

Lost in his thoughts, it wasn't until he was 4 miles (more or less 6,5 km) from Akatsuki HQ that he noticed he had been cast a trailing jutsu, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Shit." He muttered and in some simple hand seals he annulled the jutsu, they would have a lot of work to do to find his base.

"You won't catch me that easily Kazekage." He muttered and kept going to the base, a small smirk on his face. "Not when I'm controlling." He stopped 500m in front of the base and did a series of complicated hand seals.

A bluish light was seen forming a dome over the terrain and Leader took the opportunity to enter Akatsuki premises. The bluish light appeared again and re-covered the terrain.

This jutsu made the area involved in the sphere, even underground, protected. Whoever touched the shield would instantly be teleported to the other side, what was inside couldn't be seen, but who was inside could see the outside.

Leader looked back and smirked.

"You won't catch me." He muttered and went back inside.

* * *

**1 week later – Akatsuki base – Sealed room – Bedtime**

The twins were becoming used to be in Akatsuki HQ, they slept in the sealed room, and during the day they usually played with Deidara and Hana.

Kyuuki didn't spoke much to the eerie man in the sealed room, but Ryuuki did, and the small boy enjoyed talking to the older man.

"I have something to show you nii-chan." Ryuuki said happily, the man turned to him in mild curiosity. "Look." Ryuuki held a drawing in his hands. "It's Kaa-chan!!" Ryuuki grinned as the man looked at the drawing, it was a 'girl' with pink hair and green eyes.

"Nii-chan, we should go to bed." Kyuuki whispered in her brother's ear, never looking at the man.

"You 2 can have the bed." The twins stared at the man (Kyuuki just at his chest, Ryuuki at his face). "It is not fair for children to sleep in the floor." Ryuuki rinned and hugged the older man.

"Arigatou onii-chan!!" Ryuuki exclaimed happily, the man merely smiled a small smile. As for Kyuuki, she found the courage to look at the man's face with a smile.

As the twins fell asleep in the bed, the man realised who they reminded him of, one of the persons they reminded him of, the Kyuubi's friend, Haruno Sakura. He had seen her a few times, when she was a little girl, always being picked on by other girls.

Kyuuki reminded him of her, as for Ryuuki, he still couldn't place a finger on who he reminded him of.

* * *

**Not much to say, so i'll keep it simple!**

**Please review and tell me your opinions, it helps a lot!!**

**Luv you all, Kaori-chan!!**

**oh, does anyone knows who the mistery man is?? ta dah... i can tell you right away, he'll have a big influence on Leader!!**

**Oh… in my opinion, the part where Deidara talks about his past is important, because… what would you do if you died, and then you were brought back to life?? What would the meaning of your life be??**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-san!**

**I hope my dear readers enjoy, and please review!!**

**i worked really hard for this chapter so ****I hope it's good (at least in some way)**

**this chapter as a quick turning of events, and i say it right n****ow, it won't end so quickly... and the man in the sealed room will play a very important role in future chapters.**

**as for the twins, someon****e asked me why they didn't want to go back, well, that's because Deidara and Hana keep them busy, and they really like Deidara!**

* * *

**Previously on The Secret Behind**

The new Leader of Akatsuki kidnapped Kyuuki and Ryuuki, Sakura's twins.

Confrontations with a mysterious man and the previous Leader happen.

Deidara unveils some of his past to Hana, a somehow recent 'addition' to Akatsuki.

Sakura is locked in her room mourning, Gaara is making preparations, Sai goes to see Sakura in her room and comforts her the best way he can.

The kids seem to be happy, Deidara and Hana spend time playing with the twins, resulting of the kids not noticing they haven't seen their mother for a while.

* * *

**Chapter ****7**

Knock Knock

No answer came, but the person knocking entered anyway.

A trey in his hands, he walked to her bed and settled the trey in her bedside table. She was in the same place she had been since she had entered her room.

"Sakura." He spoke softly, almost a whisper. She glanced up, acknowledging his presence. "I brought you something to eat." She didn't answer right away.

"I'm not hungry." He sighed and sat by her side, carefully, he lifted her so she was sitting, her back against his chest, his arms around her waist in a protective manner.

"You have to eat." He told her, his forehead resting against her shoulder.

She let her body fall against his and closed her eyes.

"I don't want to eat." She brought her knees up and hugged them, his arms trapped between her thighs and her waist.

"If you don't eat, how are we going to get them back." She sunk further against him and opened her eyes.

"He had no right to take them away from me." He nodded lightly against her shoulder.

"Eat." She simply let her legs fall back in the bed and said nothing. "You have to eat Sakura." He sighed when she didn't respond.

"I know Sai." She said as he reached for the food he had brought her.

"Good girl." Silence fell between them as he started feeding her.

* * *

**Akatsuki HQ – Leader's POV**

It's been a week. One week since I got them. One week since she's paying for her betrayal. One week since I don't know what'll happen next. One week since Akira is trying to get something to use against me. One week since the twins have been here, always playing with Deidara and Hana, sometimes with Kisame. One week since Suna ANBU are exploring the area around the base but haven't found anything. One week since… I don't go to see _him_.

Well… I don't regret not going to see him, he only annoys the crap out of me.

I'll see what happens next, I'm not called a prodigy for nothing.

Walking down the Akatsuki base, I see Akira in a tree branch, probably spying on me, Kisame is watching TV and Hana is playing with the twins. I wonder where Deidara is.

**

* * *

**

**Sealed room – Normal POV**

Deidara sat next to the eerie man drinking his tea.

"I don't know my purpose anymore." Deidara spoke for the first time since he joined the man. "What is the purpose of my life now?? Just a doll that can die and be resurrected until no one has usage for me?" he put his cup of tea in the table and sighed.

"You should appreciate the gift offered to you." Deidara stared at the man and sighed again.

"I'm happy to be alive, but I don't want to just become a doll, like Sasori-danna's puppets, art isn't eternal, and I don't want to be eternal."

"You wish death." The man stated. "But you should enjoy your life, even if it's one that came after death." Deidara nodded.

"You're right." He got up. "Thanks."

* * *

**2 miles (more or less 3,2 Km) from Akatsuki HQ**

"Did you find anything?"

"No." it had been a week since they had started to search for Akatsuki premises, but nothing. Gaara sighed and looked around.

2 people landed next to him.

"Anything yet?" Gaara shook his head and looked at them, his eyes staying in the depressed pink haired lady.

"Sorry."

"It's ok, you're doing everything you can." She whispered. She looked terrible, Gaara could swear she was thinner.

They had been exploring the area for a week now, but nothing, they couldn't find anything, and they didn't even know what country it was they were in right now.

"Kazekage-sama." Gaara looked at the ANBU who was approaching him.

"I think we found something."

* * *

**Akatsuki HQ**

"Well well, it seems they found us _Leader_." Akira said in a mocking manner. Leader said nothing for a while.

"Good." Akira stared at Leader.

"Good?? How can it be good to have someone find out our whereabouts??"

"Shut up already old man." Leader muttered and started walking with a sadistic smirk to the sealed room.

Akira was glaring and indignant.

"I'm not old." He muttered.

Leader just shrugged and entered the sealed room.

"Before you say anything, we'll be changing HQ in a day, and you're staying here for them to find you." The dark eerie man wearing navy blue and white stayed quiet.

"You're making a big mistake." The man warned. "You're being blinded by your feelings." The man spoke in a calm voice.

"How can you know anyway?"

"I may not see much, but, to me, you are and always were an open book." Leader scoffed.

"Oh really, you didn't saw me locking you in a room coming."

"No, and I cannot see the future, I can only interpret what I see."

"Whatever, the kids'll come with me."

"Very well then, I say goodbye then, Sasuke." Leader stared at the man before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

He walked to the garden to see Hana making a flower crown with Kyuuki and Deidara doing a sculpture with Ryuuki.

"Deidara, Hana." Both adults looked at Leader. "Get everything, we're leaving tomorrow." Kyuuki and Ryuuki stared at Leader.

"Where are we going Leader-onii-chan??" the twins asked in union. He looked at the kids and then answered.

"Somewhere, get everything." With that he walked away and went to inform everyone else in the base.

"Retreating, what a good technique." Akira mocked, Leader twitched.

"I know what I'm doing, so don't push it Akira, you're becoming old to understand my plans." Akira glared but said nothing.

**

* * *

**

**With Gaara, Suna ANBU and Sakura and Sai**

"It looks like a barrier Kazekage-sama, we only noticed because of the radio."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Our radios can communicate until 1,5 Km." the ANBU started explaining. "But once we touch the barrier we noticed the radios weren't picking up the radio waves anymore. We estimated the area of this shield to have a 10 Km Radius, which is bigger than a village."

Sakura stared ahead at the forest, where the barrier was and took a step forward reaching her hand up.

"We are instantly teleported to the other side Haruno-san, it's no use." She let her hand fall and kept staring ahead.

"We'll get them." Sai whispered on her ear and hugged her from behind. She merely nodded.

Night fell and everyone kept trying to find a way to break the barrier, but to no use.

Now the ANBU were sleeping, one kept awake guarding the camp, there were 5 ANBU in total.

Gaara and Sai were discussing ways to beat the new Akatsuki Leader up.

Sakura was where they had said the barrier would be, sitting in the floor, her knees were up to her chest and she was hugging them while looking ahead.

"You had no right." She whispered and tears started to run down her cheeks "No right."

* * *

**Inside the barrier**

Everyone was resting for the trip they would be doing tomorrow, Deidara would take Hana and the twins in his clay birds, Kisame was going with Akira through the forest, the man in the sealed room was staying, everyone else was on missions and would know where to go as soon as they noticed no one was at this base, and as for Leader, he was going alone, and he was going to go by the camp outside the barrier.

He stopped before hitting the barrier, he knelt down and stared at the girl sitting there crying.

He decided he would show her a demo of how much stronger he had become, so he let his chakra out for a second, and just as he hid it, Sakura looked up, he almost smiled at her reaction.

* * *

**Outside the barrier**

It was monstrous. For that single second, she felt it. She felt it. The huge, enormous, monstrous chakra that was both frightening and unknown and familiar.

She looked up but all she saw was the forest, yet she knew the barrier was there, that someone was there.

That monstrous chakra, almost as huge, if not bigger, than the Kyuubi's chakra. It almost scared her to death.

* * *

**Inside the barrier**

He had thought so many things, he had so many plans. Yet, they would forever stay in his mind, because she had children and was together with someone else.

So, he figured, he wouldn't allow her to do as she pleased, she had to pay for that so big betrayal.

He let his chakra leak once more, this time not in monstrous amount, in a slow calm flow, one that would seem like a warm breeze flowing by, and he knew she felt it.

He knew it because he saw the slight shiver in her skin when he released his chakra. Because he saw the way her eyes closed. Because he noticed the small quiet sigh that escaped her lips. Because he could read her like an open book.

She opened her eyes and kept staring ahead, and although she hadn't even spoke, although she had just moved her lips, he knew what she had wanted to say, she had wanted to say his name, but she couldn't.

* * *

**Outside the barrier**

As the sun started to ascend and everyone started to wake up, she felt another wave of chakra, this one wasn't monstrous, nor calm.

It was raged and imposing, and she knew that everything was starting now, and she knew it because a couple of minutes later a blue wave (she supposed it was the barrier) disappeared and a huge mansion with a huge and beautiful garden appeared where before there was nothing.

No one else seemed to notice, yet, so she went first. She rushed through the humongous compound until she was only 500 m away from the mansion.

In front of her were Kisame and a man she had never seen before.

"I'm sorry little miss, but we can't stay." The light brown haired grey eyed man said and he and Kisame started to run to the right, she just kept in place until the person she hated the most at the moment came out. He was wearing all black, his hands in his pockets, his face blank, his hands in his pockets.

"We meet again." He stated in a void voice.

She wanted to just charge at him and hurt him, break all the bones in his body, heal him and do it all over again. But she couldn't, she was frozen in place.

"Leader, we're ready to go, yeah." Leader looked over his shoulder at the roof to see Deidara producing a clay bird and Hana was with the kids.

"Good, you know where to go." He looked back at Sakura and took his hands out of his pockets, she suddenly found herself assuming a fighting stance, but he paid no attention to her and made a series of hand seals.

"Hijutsu: mawari shitsunen." (Secret arts: surroundings oblivion) He said in a void voice.

She saw a white wave of chakra go and surround her twins.

"W-what was that?" she demanded somehow shakily.

"They won't even know you're here." Sasuke stated.

"We're going Leader." Hana said. Sakura started to cry as her twins looked her way but didn't even saw her.

"Bye bye Leader-onii-chan!!" the twins said cheerfully in union as Deidara's clay birds started to fly away.

Leader merely lifted his hand and waved lightly.

"Sakura." Leader chuckled as Gaara and Sai appeared next to Sakura.

"Your back-up's a little late don't you think??"

"What do you mean late??" Gaara demanded. Leader pointed at 2 birds already far away.

"The kids are already on their way to my other mansion, and I intend to go too."

"Bastard." Sai muttered.

"Don't be so confident." Gaara said and took a step forward. Leader smirked.

"No, you don't be so confident, you wouldn't think I became Leader of Akatsuki just like that now would you?" a statement not a question.

"You could have come back." Sakura whispered. His eyes instantly shifted to her.

"I thought about it, but then I saw a chance to do something better than to become a prisoner for the rest of my life." In a flash he was in front of her, his right hand cupping her cheek. He leaned to her ear.

"You betrayed me, and now you're paying for it Blossom." Time seemed to stop for everyone as Sakura spoke.

"I never betrayed you."

"I'm not fooled easily, so stop trying." He paused and leaned back to look at her eyes. "I left you a present inside." In a twirl of leaves he disappeared.

"What just happened??" was what Gaara and Sai both asked as Sakura started to walk inside the mansion with a blank expression.

"Sakura." She ignored and kept walking through the mansion until she felt a source of chakra in one of the rooms.

Gaara and Sai followed her, not wanting to have surprises, but still confused.

Sakura stopped in front of a locked door, the chakra source coming from inside. She charged her fist and punched the door, making it fly out of the room by the window.

She entered the room and froze when she saw the man there, leaning against the wall.

"That was quick." He commented and stared at Sakura. And it all clicked in his mind.

* * *

**Please review!! It helps a lot, it helps me improve my writing!!**

**Luv you all, Kaori-chan!!**

**A**** really quick turn on events, in my opinion the most important part of this chapter is when Sasuke is observing Sakura from inside the barrier and the talk Leader as with the man in the sealed room.**

**I**** liked writing the part where Deidara talks with the mysterious man, it proves that Deidara isn't as happy as he seems in the outside.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!! I had a lot of work to make it**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-san!**

**I'm soooooo sorry for the late update, I am really, but I've been busy with school and studying and homework and also this stupid block, that made me have ideas but every time I actually wrote something it came out really crappy...**

**anyway, i know it's kinda short but hey, nothing's perfect...**

**i hope you enjoy, i worked hard to make it**

**oh, this is important, kinda, pay attention to the part when Leader is in the twins' room.**

* * *

**Previously on The secret behind:**

The 'showdown begins. The base of Akatsuki is found.

While everyone sleeps or tries to figure something out to open the barrio Sakura sits in front of the barrio crying, and someone watches her, even letting her nknow of his presence.

Once the sun comes out, the barrio goes down and  
Sakura approaches the mansion, she sees her children leave, oblivious of her presence, and even calling Leader 'Leader-onii-chan'.

'I left you a present inside' is what he tells her before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. She enters the sealed room after following a chakra path and freazes when she sees the man leaning against the wall.

* * *

**Chapter ****8**

It is said that nothing is actually as bad as we see it. Who said that was right, sometimes it's not as bad as we see it, sometimes its worst.

* * *

**Mysterious man's POV (the one in the sealed room)**

After I was found I was 'escorted' to Suna. That was 3 days ago.

Now they locked me in a room, go figure, and keep trying to make me talk about Akatsuki. I couldn't say much even if I wanted to, and I already told them that, but they don't believe. It's their problem anyway, I know I did horrible things, but my mother taught me not to lie, and I don't.

While they keep on ranting about what I did and Akatsuki, my mind is working on the puzzle I recently found, the twins.

I have no doubt they're Sakura-san's children, and now I'm sure about my suspicions. It all seems to fit, their looks and resemblances with their parents, and also the personalities. It all fits, I just have to get her to come and talk to me.

As much as I would like to say I don't care about anything, that would be lying. Those 2 gaki, they have something. They're prodigies, and they irradiate some kind of wave that gives everyone around them hope for a better future, for the future they are starting.

"Answer the questions damn it." The raven haired boy yelled at me, if I recall correctly he's name, codename at least, is Sai.

He had his palms on the table in front of me and was glaring. I looked at him indifferently.

"I'll answer whatever you want to know." I told him in monotone, he raised a brow. "In 1 condition."

* * *

**Normal POV**

Sai stood there looking at the depressed girl, yes girl, because when you 'grow up' with someone it'll always be a girl or a boy, wondering if he should or shouldn't. he had tried to ask Gaara's opinion about the mater, but the Kazekage was in reunion with the council, one of those where they don't shut up, Gaara gets a headache, and it ends after long tiring hours.

He sighed, it was the only way to solve this, so he took a step forward, but stopped when she spoke.

"What did _he_ say?" he frowned lightly and sighed again.

"He said he'll talk." She turned her head to face him.

"But?" he was surprised she was acting so… professionally.

"He said he'll only talk to you." She nodded and looked out of the window again.

"Okay." She mumbled and got up. "He can't be that bad." She turned to face Sai to see his concerned face, she smiled lightly and walked to him.

"Don't worry about me." She whispered softly and hugged his torso. "Tsunade-shisou trained me well." He let his head rest upon hers and hugged her back.

"This isn't a mission." He sighed and closed his eyes. "Don't lock your feelings inside, it's not good." She nodded against his chest, understanding his point.

"I won't." she pulled away and looked up at him. "I promise." He smiled lightly and shook his head.

"You don't change." He mumbled.

"Where is he?" she asked, he nodded and led the way.

* * *

**ANBU isolated cells**

The door opened and the man looked up with the usual poker face. He observed all the moves she made, he noticed she was trembling lightly as she closed the door, and how she stood a few seconds with her back turned to him holding her breath.

When she turned to face him, she had a blank face on.

She could feel his eyes on her every move, and it made her nervous. She stood a few seconds with her back turned to him holding her breath. When she turned to face him with a blank face, the first thing she noticed was the onyx eyes.

"You wanted to talk to me." She stated, and he gave a curt nod.

"I still do Sakura-san." She noted to herself he spoke in a void monotone tone, but she could still percept the politeness in his words. "Please do have a sit." She followed his words and sat down in the chair in front of him.

Silence fell, and she broke that silence.

"Why only me?" she asked, and he merely tilted his head to the side lightly before answering.

* * *

**Akatsuki HQ (new one)**

As he reached Akatsuki, Kisame was somewhere in the living room area, Hana seemed to be in her room, and Deidara was with the twins in a room. And he knew all of this just by sensing their chakra and calculating their position on the mansion mentally in milliseconds.

He frowned, Akira wasn't here.

"I swear I'll end up killing him if he keeps interfering." He muttered to himself and walked inside.

He found himself walking to where the twins and Deidara were, something inside of him was pushing him that way.

_He hated that man right now, not just because of al the things the man had done, but because…_

"_Can't you stop talking in riddles??" he muttered in annoyance looking at the man. Said man raised a brow lightly._

"_Does it bother you to not understand what I tell you??" Leader glared at him._

"_Shove it."_

"_Or perhaps you just do not wish to understand."_

"_Oh yeah, that's probably it." Leader said sarcastically and got up. "But seriously, 'stop thinking and look with the soul' what the fuck is that supposed to mean anyway??"_

"_It means you should thinking about yourself and look around you." Leader walked to the door._

"_Look around to find what?? Do tell me." The man looked out of the window._

"_You're making a big mistake by doing this." Leader turned._

"_Let me guess, even if I ask you're not gonna tell me why it's a mistake."_

"_It's something you have to find out on your own."_

"_Right." Leader rolled his eyes. "She caused this, she should have thought about it before doing it." Leader opened the door and got out._

"_Look carefully around yourself, stop thinking about what you feel and look at it like and outsider, maybe you'll find out something interesting." Leader stopped for a few seconds before shrugging and slamming the door shut._

"_How am I supposed to understand his stupid riddles." He muttered and kept walking down the hallway._

He found himself thinking about that conversation, it had been justbefore he left the previous Akatsuki base.

And when he broke from his thoughts and came down to the real world, he found himself looking at the twins. They were sitting in the bed, Deidara was sitting on the edge, a book in hand, reading the story in it to the twins.

Was he a bad person for being jealous of Sai having Sakura for himself?? Was he a bad person for being jealous of Sai being the father of Sakura's kids?? Was he a bad person for wishing he was in Sai's place and had a family?? Was he a bad person for those reasons??

He knew he was a criminal, but being a criminal isn't the same as being a bad person. A criminal can be a gentleman, while a bad person can't. A criminal still has good manners, a bad person doesn't.

He hid in the shadows as Deidara left the room after the kids were asleep, so the blond wouldn't notice him. After he was sure no one was nearby, he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

A few minutes later he found himself sitting on the wooden desk in front of the bed, his back against the wall, one of his knees up to his chest, staring at the twins.

He knew he was making Sakura pay for betraying him, but he would never make someone go through what he went, he would never steal someone's parents for personal reasons, not like his brother did to him, he didn't wish anyone to go through what he went.

Was he a bad person for wishing he had had a normal life with his parents, then falling in live with someone that loved him and later having a normal life, a few kids and a loving wife?? Was he a bad person for wishing he didn't have such a screwed up life??

* * *

**Suna – ANBU isolated cells**

How long had it been, 2 hours?? 8 hours?? She didn't know, but, she found herself having a, somehow, casual conversation with the man in front of her.

They were talking, and ending the topic they were talking about they stayed quiet for a while. When he spoke again her eyes widened and she stared at him in shock.

"I'd like to help you Sakura-san." She searched her brain for words, and the only one she seemed to find was…

"Why?"

"Your children are the pure reflection of you and their father." He stated, small interrogation marks appeared over her head. "And I've taken some kind of affection for them." She choked on her own saliva.

"Excuse me?? Did you just really say that??" his featured softened and he gave a curt nod.

"You may think many things about me, but remember one thing, I'm still human, and I still have feelings." She cleared her throat, understanding that he wasn't just joking with her (she also doubted that a man like him would joke around).

"It's just that… I mean, being me, wouldn't you find it strange if you heard that from you?" he gave a curt nod.

"But I do mean what I said, I might have lost against him, but I still know his weak points." He looked pointedly at her. "And _**you**_ are one of them." She didn't hear his last statement.

She knew she should hate this man, but she found herself unable to, she knew about what he had done, but he was polite, nice to talk to, he didn't care about appearances and he seemed to like her twins, plus, he wanted to help her and respected her.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked after a while, he nodded. "Did he do anything to them??"

"No, he said he wouldn't hurt anyone physically." She felt relieved, but her heart also hurt, because it meant he would make someone suffer psychologically, and that someone was her.

"If I'm not allowed to accompany you." She looked up at him. "Be careful Sakura-san. It might seem he'll only evade, but he'll always have a card to play." She nodded and got up.

"I used to think I would hate you, because of what you did." She looked up. "But when it comes to it, I don't." she looked back at the man. "I'll ask the ANBU to take you to a cell and bring you dinner." He nodded and she walked to the door, before she opened it she turned back to him.

"Can I trust you?" he wondered why she would ask, but then he knew why.

"You can." She looked down with a small smile.

"You know…" she looked back at him. "You're his total opposite in some ways Itachi-san."

"I know." He watched as she walked out the door. "I'd like to have another conversation like this with you Sakura-san, maybe in a friendlier atmosphere next time." She nodded.

"Thank you." He nodded.

* * *

**Middle of the night – Akatsuki new HQ**

Hana went to check on the twins, since she had gotten up to drink something and ouldn't sleep, might as well do something useful.

She entered the room quietly and checked on the kids, they were sleeping peacefully.

She readjusted their covers and turned to walk away, and that's when she saw him.

She smiled lightly, he wasn't a heartless man after all.

She took a blanket from the closet in the room and carefully covered her 'boss'.

"You should see the truth soon Leader, or you'll loose everything, you just have to watch carefully and then it won't be difficult to put the pieces together." She whispered while she 'tucked' him in the blanket.

He stirred lightly in his sleep and mumbled something, that Hana could swear was a moan followed by someone's name, but she didn't hear it too well.

"_I know that for others Leader is a bad person, but deep down he isn't."_ she thought as she walked out of the room, closing the door silently. _"He does so much for us, he protects us and gives us a place where we're accepted."_ She entered her room and closed the door. _"He's like a Kage to us. He's just like us. He just wants to fit in without everyone talking about him." _she slipped inside the fluffy covers and snuggled. _"And now, he's just thinking about himself for a change, but he shows his emotions differently from us…"_ she fell asleep, and as she did, she still thought the same thing. _"Leader isn't a bad person."_

He woke up from the sunrays hitting his face gently. He knew he had fallen sleep in the room, and he mentally kicked himself for it.

He noticed he had a blanket covering him, and he was grateful, since he knew the night hadn't been at all warm, he presumed it had been Hana, but he also knew she wouldn't even talk about it.

And then he noticed another thing, he had something on his lap. He started by looking around, and his gaze didn't went far, it stayed at the wooden desk chair that was out of it's place, and then his gaze travelled to his lap, to see a small body rolled in a blue blanket, the person's head on his lap.

He listened to the even breathing and stared at the raven with pink hues long hair sprawled over his lap.

He stayed there for some minutes, until he decided he couldn't just stay there, he had things to do. He moved and took his blanket off. He then took the small girl in his arms, to his surprise and/or shock she snuggled closer. She wasn't heavy, he noted to himself.

Her eyes opened lightly and looked up at him.

"I had a nightmare." She mumbled and he looked down at her, to see her fearful face towards what he would reply. "Are you mad?"

He laid her down on the bed next to the small boy and shook his head lightly.

"Go back to sleep." He ordered quietly and turned to walk away.

"Onii-chan." She whispered, and he turned to face her. "Anoune, what's your name??" he tilted his head lightly.

"Sasuke." The girl smiled and snuggled in the warm covers.

He turned again and walked to the door.

"…arigatou Sasu-nii-chan…" he heard the girl mumble in her sleep as he left the room.

He walked to his office, and as he reached it, a man was waiting inside.

"I assume you information to give me." The man nodded, his golden eyes following Leader's every step.

"Jin-san and Kai-san stayed behind to see if something changes." The man said, Leader nodded and sat behind the wooden desk.

"And Kaorin?"

"She said she was joining Tobi-san and that they would be keeping an eye on Akira." Leader nodded.

"Good work Ruki, now tell me about the mission." The man nodded and started reporting.

As Ruki, a 23 year old with golden eyes and messy golden orange hair, left his office, Sasuke sighed. Contrarily to what Akira thought, he had a purpose to being in his current position, he was basically trying to find someone that knew very well how to hide and stay unnoticed.

He got up and got out of his office, they, Ruki, Jin and Kai, had recovered a few clues, but this particular man, he was a very difficult to find, and each time there was a clue, everything seemed to become a whole lot harder to figure out.

He hated riddles for one simple reason, he hated to walk in circles to find an answer.

* * *

**Suna**

Sakura stared at the 2 man sitting on the couch.

"So?" they shared a look and looked at her.

"It's a bad idea." They both said, she dropped herself in the couch in front of them.

"But he can help us." She tried to reason.

"I can't allow it, and you know it." Gaara started. "Just by keeping it a secret I'm already going against protocol." She looked down.

"Be reasonable, he said we can, but can we really trust him? He did kill his entire clan." Sai tried to reason her.

"Except Sasuke." She mumbled and looked at them with that look of hers, that said she was trying her best not t crack. "I want them back." She looked down again. "I just want them back. I just want to hold them again." She whispered and buried her face in her hands.

Gaara and Sai exchanged a look and looked back at her, not knowing what to do.

"Don't worry, we'll get them back one way or another." Gaara spoke softly.

"We promised you that didn't we?" Sai continued and she looked up.

"And we'll keep our promise." Gaara concluded.

"Thank you."

The situation was becoming even more difficult, before they had some sort of idea of where to look, now they had absolutely no idea, and each time they faced the new Akatsuki Leader, he seemed to not want to fight, not physically at least.

It is said that nothing is actually as bad as we see it. Who said that was right, sometimes it's not as bad as we see it, sometimes its worst.

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**So?? was it ok?? i really hope so...**

**please review, reviews make me happy (i already said this)**

**oh, and... i was thinking to change my pen name to something more simple, like Kaori-chan or something, tell me if i should or not**

**and of course, your opinions of what you'd like to see happen next are welcome, they actually help!!**

**luv ya all, Kaori-chan!!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I was having major block when i started writing this chapter, but the ideas started flowing and here it is!!**

**I already have**** a few ideas for further chapters and all!!**

**Oh!! i revised this story's first chapters, firstly because the first chapter was way too shorst, and secondly because i used to write with a lot of '...' and it didn't look that good, so... yeah!!**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter, it has a major turn of events...**

**Please review and tell me if you liked it, and opinions of course!!**

**Oh... IMPORTANT - I have a question, that is really omportant for me, do you guys think this story's getting better than when it started??**

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** Previously on The secret behind:**

Conversations happen. Sakura speaks with the mysterious man, who reveals himself to be Uchiha Itachi, and finds herself not hating like she thought she would.

The Leader of Akatsuki finds himself observing the twins and falls asleep watching them. Hana sees him and covers him, as she goes to her room she thinks about her leader, and concludes that he isn't a bad person.

Sakura tries to convince Gaara and Sai to let Itachi help, but they refuse, 'He said we could, but can we really trust him?'.

Something new is discovered, who is this person the Leader of Akatsuki is searching?? And what will he do to Akira??

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**Chapter**** 10**

It's said that the world is small because, in the most unexpected situations we find ourselves looking at something we weren't expecting to see… but when we're searching for something we consider of great value, the world always seems to be bigger than the universe.

"… _the small girl gathered all of her courage and __ran so she was standing in front of the old man, the sharp kunai held between her hands pointed outwards in a defensive posture, her eyes determined to protect the old man." He paused._

"_What happened next??" the twins asked simultaneously, attentive to what he was telling them._

"_Seeing the enemy charging in her direction, the fearless boy, with all his speed, ran and stopped in front of the girl, his arms in a protective posture, his most terrifying glare directed at the enemy, no one was allowed to hurt the girl, and who did, would see hell from the boy." The twins clapped, their eyes shinning._

"_That was a really…" Ryuuki started._

"… _great story Sasu-nii-chan!!" Kyuuki finished._

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**2 weeks earlier**

It had been 2 months since he had kidnapped the twins, they had changed premises 2 other times, being now in a small neutral territory between the Fire and Tea country. He had done everything so the twins wouldn't feel 'home-sick' and he had to lock them up in a cell, because he only had sealed rooms in the main HQ.

Currently, everyone was having dinner, and everyone meant all of the Akatsuki members, and a few other people.

The table was a rectangle, having 14 people around it. On the extremity of the table were Ryuuki and Kyuuki. From the twins point of view, on the right were Deidara, Tobi, Hana, Kisame, Konan and Akira (well, actually it's Pein). On the left side of the table were the new members of Akatsuki (whose description will come later) Kai, Kaorin, Jin, Ryo and Ruki. Finally on the other extremity of the table was the young Leader of Akatsuki, Uchiha Sasuke.

The food displayed on the table was variable, there were onigiri, tempura, several types of sushi, udon, and other types of food, and, of course, for Kisame there was a big salmon, and for Deidara, Tobi and the twins there was ramen.

Everyone ate silently and calmly, drinking their water, tea or sake once in a while.

Observing attentively their faces, if one looked at the previous leader, Pein, we would clearly see he was pissed, his hard glare directed at the current leader. Next to him Konan had a passive and worried expression towards her childhood friend that was pissed at the new Akatsuki leader, once in a while she would sigh softly and drink a small sip of sake.

Other clear expressions could be seen on the faces of Jin, Kai, Ruki, Ryo and Kaorin, they kept glancing at the kids at the extremity of the table with curiosity mixed with slight confusion mixed with mild interest. For once Tobi was quiet, but just because Deidara-sempai was helping the twins eat their ramen, as for Hana, she was eating quietly, sometimes glancing at the impassive leader, other times glancing at the twins and Deidara, the kids sure liked the blond man, they were always happy near him.

As for the Leader at the other extremity of the table, he was eating his sushi and onigiri calmly, his eyes analysing the expressions on his subordinates, Ruki, Kai, Jin, Kaorin and Ryo had never seen the twins before, and he was glad they weren't looking at his hostages with ill intentions, just curiosity, confusion and interest.

For once Tobi was quiet, and he was glad for that, he wasn't sure he would be in the mood to put up with all the goofiness Tobi had, it reminded him too much of his Dobe friend. Deidara was helping the twins eating, the trio always seemed to be happy when together, and he was glad that this whole situation had good points, which ones?? Well… for starters, Deidara had begun to smile with his heart, and he seemed happy.

"I'd like everyone to come to my office, except Pein-san and Konan-san." Sasuke announced as he finished his meal and got up, taking his dishes with him, and walked away towards the kitchen.

He could feel Pein's glare, but he didn't care, Pein's ability didn't scare him one bit.

He stopped at the door and looked back, he could also feel someone else's eyes on him.

"Could you meet me in my office before everyone Tobi-san??"

"Hai Leader-sempai!!" Tobi answered enthusiastically jumping to his feet and taking his dishes he started walking/bouncing happily to the kitchen.

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**Suna**

2 months, it had been 2 months since he had kidnapped her children, 7 weeks since she had seen him at the Akatsuki main base, 5 weeks since another base had been found out, but who had been there had been gone a few hours before they had arrived. It had been 3 weeks since another base had been found out, and the people who had been there had been gone a few hours before. This man hunt wasn't going anywhere, and she was getting tired and frustrated.

Gaara and Sai were doing everything they could, but it wasn't enough.

"What are you planning Sakura-san??" the voice of the person she was visiting came out monotone and mildly curious. She turned to face the older man.

"I'm going alone, I have a few tricks up my sleeve too." She answered and walked to the table, he was sitting in front of said table.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" he asked, to which she shrugged.

"Good or bad, I don't care, I'm sick of playing hide and seek." She muttered and put a map of all the countries in front of him.

"You said you knew where all the bases were." The man nodded. "Then please mark them for me Itachi-san." Her look said she wasn't kidding.

"Very well." He took the pen she had put next to the map and started marking points in the map.

"Thank you." She said as she looked at the map. "We've already got these." She said pointing at the map, Itachi nodded and crossed out 3 marks in the map.

"That's all of them." He looked at her. "Be careful if you have to enter Rain." She raised a brow.

"Why?"

"It's the main Akatsuki base, although I'm sure he'll only use it as a last resource." She nodded.

"Thank you Itachi-san." He nodded.

"Be careful Sakura-san." With that she left the cell, a plan already in her mind.

She knew Gaara was in his office doing some paper word, and Sai was with the ANBU team planning their next assault.

She walked to her room in the Kazekage mansion and packed up the necessary on a backpack.

"So far so good." She mumbled and, with her backpack, she walked out of the mansion.

In the streets, people talked and gossiped about the strange things that had been happening in the village after she had gotten here, but she merely ignored and entered the Kazekage tower. The lady at the front desk was about to say something, but Sakura had already entered the hallway before she could.

She stopped in front of Gaara's office door and changed her facial expression to completely worn out. She knocked twice and entered.

The red haired man behind the table looked up and put the papers he was reading down.

"Is something wrong??" she shook her head.

"I didn't sleep to well tonight." She walked closer to him. "I just need to relax and I'll be fine, well, at least my body'll be fine." She smiled slightly.

"Do you need anything?"

"Can you take me to the oasis?? I always feel better after being there a while." He nodded and got up.

"Why do you have a backpack??" he asked as they got closer.

"Well, I just put a towel and clean clothes, and something to eat and drink inside, in case I stay there a while." She answered in a small voice as she hugged his torso. He nodded and hugged her back.

Something she never got used to was the ride to go to the oasis, being carried by a whirl of sand wasn't what she cold call normal, it made her head a bit dizzy every time.  
Once in the oasis, a smooth line of sand travelled around her neck and settled in a necklace.

"Do you need anything else??" she shook her head and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you." He nodded.

"Break the necklace and I'll come to get you." She nodded.

"I know." He smiled and she smiled back as he disappeared in a swirl of sand.

She sighed, now came the hard part of her plan. She put her backpack in front of her and took the map out, she examined it and counted how many bases there were to go investigate.

"There are 22 in total. We found out 3, so I have 19 bases to go check out." She nodded to herself.

"Yosh!" she exclaimed, and made a hand seal.

"Kage bushin no jutsu." Now there were 19 Sakura's on the oasis, she had learned this technique a few years ago, being the Hokage's apprentice had been a good thing, since she had access to all the scrolls she wanted.

"Each of us will go check out one base, simply to see if they're there. If not you can disappear so I know, if they are, do the same so I know where to go."

"Hai." The clones answered and she started telling each of them which base they would be investigating.

"_You won't get away now you bastard."_ With that last thought, she was ready to start the real man hunt.

"Scatter." The 19 clones scattered, each going in a different direction.

**

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**Curent Akatsuki HQ**

The 10 official Akatsuki members where gathered in the Leader's office, well, Deidara wasn't there yet, and Nagato and Konan weren't official members anymore.

"Why did you call us Leader??" Leader looked at who had spoken and stared at him for a few seconds. The person who had spoken was a male with spiky black bluish hair and purple/grey eyes, he was 21 years old and was called Ryo.

"I have new orders for all of you." Leader answered after a while and Ryo nodded.

"What kind of orders Leader?" a girl asked, she had long black hair and blue eyes.

"I'll explain after Deidara gets here Kaorin-chan." 'chan' because she was only 17 years old.

"Hai." The door opened to reveal a happy blond haired man carrying a small boy with spiky raven hair and dark emerald green eyes, with some tints of onyx in them. Said boy was giggling while playing with Deidara's bangs. His left arm was down, his hand holding a small hand of a girl with long raven with some dark pink, almost red, highlights hair and onyx eyes with tints of emerald green. Said girl was giggling and looking up as she obediently walked next to the blond adult.

"Sorry for the delay, un." Deidara apologised and closed the door with his foot.

"Can you tell us what our new orders are now Leader??" Kai, a 20 year old with dark orange hair (Sai's hairstyle but a bit messier) and green eyes asked.

"Yes." He paused and signalled them to sit down, some did, others didn't. "Until now I've ordered you to search for that man."

"Yes, and he's really hard to find too Leader." Ryo muttered.

"From the last report Ruki gave me, he's staying somewhere in the tea country, so we'll leave him there for a while."

The twins were next to Deidara with confused looks in their eyes, not understanding a word of what Sasu-nii-chan was saying. They shared a look, Ryuuki shrugged his shoulders and Kyuuki crossed her arms in front of herself, trying to understand what was being said.

"I'll need you to find 3 people. I'm pairing Kisame and Ryo to find the first person."

"And who is it Leader??" Kisame inquired.

"And why the 2 of us??" Ryo asked.

"Both of you have water based jutsus, and the person you'll be searching is a water based shinobi, he should be in the water country somewhere." There was a brief pause. "He's an old member of my team, Suigetsu."

"Hai, when do we leave Leader??" Ryo inquired.

"As soon as this meeting's over." Kisame and Ryo nodded.

"Next I'm sending a 4 member team to bring another member of my old team back to the base."

"Why 4 Leader??" Hana inquired.

"Because he can go berserk at any time."

"Who are you sending??"Ruki asked.

"I'm sending Ruki, Tobi, Kai and Hana."

"And who is he??" Kai inquired.

"Jugo, he should be somewhere in the northern regions of the fire country in the mountains, he isolated himself because he doesn't likes hurting anyone and loves nature." The 4 assigned nodded.

"Are you sending someone to go get the other member of you team??" Deidara asked quietly. For a moment Sasuke's face flashed in disgust.

"Yes, but for her it'll be when the other 2 are already in the base."

"Resuming, in the base it'll be only Deidara-sempai, Leader, Jin and me, ne??" Kaorin commented to herself.

"And the twins." Deidara intervened, somehow indignant.

"Right." Kaorin replied quickly. "And the twins."

"What about Konan-san and Nagato-san??" Jin asked quietly from the corner where he was. Jin had blond hair in spikes (Sasuke's haircut in blond), sapphire blue eyes and a triangle red mark on his right cheek.

"They're going to continue going after Kabuto, he's been causing troubles in all the villages he's been." Jin nodded and glanced at the twins.

"Cute kids." He mumbled, and only Kaorin, Deidara and Sasuke heard him.

Getting frustrated, Kyuuki frowned and decided she wanted to know what was going on, just because she was 4 didn't meant she would be staying in the dark. With that she walked among the people in the office and then walked around Leader's desk.

"Anoune." She called quietly while tugging on Leader's pants. Everyone shut up and stared, not knowing what their leader's reaction would be. The young Akatsuki leader looked down to see big onyx eyes staring up at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Anoune, can you explain me and onii-chan what you were saying??" she asked quietly. He stared at the small girl and glanced around him, to see everyone observing him.

"I was giving orders." She tilted her head.

"Orders?? Why??" Leader sighed.

"Because it's what I do." He whispered so only she could hear. Kyuuki nodded and then looked up at him with a look he couldn't read. "Is the onii-chan in the corner nice??" she asked with a blush, he had to contain a chuckle and nodded. She bounced up and down happily and ran to the corner, where Jin was leaning against the wall.

"The next time'll meet will be in the Rain, it's safer there." Everyone nodded. "Dismissed." He watched as Kaorin walked to the small boy next to Deidara and knelt in front of him, Ryuuki hide behind Deidara.

"What's your name??" she asked. "I'm Kaorin!!" she said with a smile. Ryuuki peeked from behind Deidara, who was looking attentively, and looked at Kaorin.

"I'm Ryuuki." He whispered. "You have pretty eyes." He mumbled, to which Kaorin grinned.

"Thank you, you have pretty eyes too, wanna come play with me??" she asked holding her hand out for the small boy to take. Ryuuki looked up at Deidara, as if asked for permission.

"You can go Ryuuki-kun, Kaorin-chan is a nice girl, yeah!!" the blond encouraged, to which Ryuuki took Kaorin's hand and let her lead him outside.

In the corner, Kyuuki was looking up at Jin, while the 18 year old looked down at her. It was as if they were having a staring contest.

"Anoune, will you play with me onii-chan??" Kyuuki asked after a while.

"I don't like playing." Jin answered blankly.

"Please??" she begged with big shinning eyes.

"No." he straitened himself and was about to start walking.

"Anoune, then can you show me a trick??" she asked, Jin raised a brow.

"A trick??" she nodded.

"Panda-nii-chan can do all sorts of things with his sand, Kiba-nii-san can make Akamaru become smaller to carry him and Shika-nii-chan can play with his shadow." She told him.

"You mean a jutsu??" she nodded.

"Me and onii-chan can climb a tree with our feet, Kaa-chan said we're very smart, because she only learned that when she became a ninja." Jin stared at the small girl for a while.

"Without your hands huh??" he mumbled. "Fine."

"YAY!!!" Kyuuki cheered and started following Jin like a puppy would follow his master.

Leader observed everything and sighed, the twins seemed to get along with everybody, he wondered if they would still smile if they knew they were all bad guys.

After his office was empty he sighed and looked out of the window from his chair, it was just a matter of time for someone to find this hideout, they had to get to the Rain as fast as they could, the Rain was, after all, governed by the Leader of Akatsuki.

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**1 week later**

She had been searching for a week now, and still nothing, her last bushin had 'poufed' out and she knew that the last hideout on the northern region of the rock country was empty.

She only had one last destination on her map, and it was the most dangerous one, Rain.

She looked at the Rain city gates for a while, she had changed her clothes, so now she was wearing her usual black boots, a black jean miniskirt over black jean short shorts, a black strapless top and a black jean jacket over it, and black fingerless gloves. She had pouch over her right thigh and another at her waist in the right, almost in her back, held by a white belt. On her hair she had a white ribbon, the lace going 'til her waist, her hitai-ate was kept on her pouch, no one needed to know where she came from. Her backpack was left hidden in the forest, protected by a summoned white and blue slug, that would take the backpack and hide if someone was to find it.

She calmed herself down and walked to the gates.

"May we help you??" one of the guards asked coolly.

"I'd like to enter please." She answered with a smile.

"In what purpose??" the other guard asked.

"I came to visit a friend." She said. The guards shared a look and looked back at her.

"A friend you say??"

" Hai!" she smiled. "A friend!" the guards shared looks once again and nodded.

"What's your name??" one asked as the other went to get something.

"Etou, Mikoto!" she answered. "Haruno Mikoto!" the guard nodded, and the other one appeared with a clipboard.

"Fill in the formulary." He said and handed her the clipboard and a pen. She smiled and took the clipboard.

She filled in the form and signed with her fake name and gave the clipboard back to the guard. After that the guards interrogated her, to make sure she wasn't planning anything against the city, and after around 2 and a half hours, she was free to go.

"Have a nice stay." The guards told her as they let her inside.

"Thank you!!" she thanked with a smile and entered the village. "I will." As the gates closed behind her she looked at the village, it was more modern than Konoha and Suna, but people walked from one place to another, they had lives, like in any other country, she wondered if everyone knew about Akatsuki, but she didn't dare ask anyone about it.

She walked around, analysing the city, observing the people, she had to know her surroundings if she wanted her plan to go right, but something about this city make chills run down her skin.

She never used her shinobi skills, she couldn't risk blowing her cover up, she simply looked around the city, making mental notes about it and construing a mental map of the Rain city.

She entered a small bar, man drank and flirted with the girls serving them, the bar tenders kept a close eye on the girls serving, and the man drinking didn't try dirty things. She sat on a stool at the bar and kept looking around, this city, it's like they didn't have a care in the world, it was… somehow disturbing.

"What can I get you??" the bar tender, a man around 22/23 with light blond hair and light blue eyes asked her with a sexy smile. She smiled back.

"Do you have green tea and some dango??" she asked smiling.

"You're lucky, I do have those things." She smiled at him as he walked to the back to get her order, he seemed a nice person.

She kept looking around, no one seemed interested in her presence, that was good, that meant she could keep a low profile.

"Here you go!" the guy from before announced putting a cup of hot tea and some dango in front of her.

"Thank you… etou." He smiled.

"I'm Fai D. Furoraito! You can call me Fay!" she smiled.

"I'm Haruno Sa- Mikoto!" she mentally kicked herself for almost blowing her cover.

"That didn't sound convincing, you weren't gonna say Mikoto." She gulped. "But, I suppose you don't wanna tell me your real name so I'll leave at that." She thankfully smiled.

"Thank you." He waved a dismissive hand.

"It's nothing, lots of people don't want others to know their true identities, it's usual from people that aren't from around here." Fay said with a smile as he prepared some drinks.

"I suppose." She mumbled and drank some tea.

"You're not from around here are you??" she shook her head and took some dango to her mouth. "If you need anything let me know!!" she nodded as Fay walked to another costumer with the drinks he had just prepared.

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**I hope you all enjoyed reading and i'd like you all to take 2 minutes and review, please!!**

**I luv you all very much!!**

**Kaori-chan!!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimot!**


	10. Chapter 10

**My dear readers... please don't kill me, i know i'm very lazy, and i've had this chapter done for a couple of days already, but i've been busy with- so i'll cut the crap and stop trying to make up an excuse, 'cause i'm not like Kakashi, and i'll just apologise for my lazyness, i'm a lot like Shikamaru-kun sometimes... -sigh-**

**anyway, please enjoy and, of course, REVIEW!!**

**opinions are welcome!!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the credit goes to Masashi Kishimoto-san!**

**Please enjoy!

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**Previously on The Secret Behind:**

Tired of playing hide and seek Sakura decides to go search for Akatsuki and her twins by herself.

In the meantime, Sasuke, the new Leader of Akatsuki, sends Kisame and Ryo to go get Suigetsu, that is somewhere in the Water Country, and he sends Hana, Tobi, Ruki and Kai to go get Jugo, that is somewhere in the northern mountains of the Fire Country.

Kaorin approaches Ryuuki and she takes him to play with her, as for Kyuuki, she approaches Jin and asks him to show her a 'trick' as she calls it. After a few seconds he accepts.

After all the bases are checked, Sakura finds herself in the Rain Country, after a long interrogation by the guards, she gets in and, after entering a bar, she meets a nice looking man, Fai D. Furoraito, or just Fay.

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* * *

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**Chapter 10**

When she looked outside, it was already night, and it was raining, but not just a light rain, it was a hard rain shower.

She sighed and rested her cheek on her palm, her elbow on the bar counter.

Looking around she saw that the bar was full, she presumed this bar was popular, she also noticed people entering the bar to protect themselves from the rain.

"Whatcha thinking about?" she snapped her head to see Fay in front of her, an amused expression on his face as he chuckled lightly.

"…" he smiled and shook his head lightly.

"You looked as if you were in deep thought." He mused.

"It's nothing." She shrugged it off, she wasn't thinking about nothing in particular anyway. She sighed again, a memory of her twins coming to mind. That's when she remembered, she would be staying in Rain for a while, but she didn't have a place to stay.

"Anou." Fay looked at her. "Do you know an Inn where I could stay?"

"Well, there aren't a lot of inns in Rain, you have hotels." He mumbled. "I wouldn't counsel you to stay in an inn, the only inns in Rain are in the bad part of town." She slumped in her seat. "And the hotels are somehow expensive, but very good." She nodded, but slumped further in her seat, she didn't have a lot of money.

"_So that's why almost nobody stays in Rain if they don't know anyone…" _she mused to herself.

"Is something wrong Mikoto-san?" she looked up and shook her head.

"No, it's just that I don't have a lot of money." She muttered quietly.

"Well…" she looked at Fay as he thought and prepared some drinks. "I do have a vacant room!" he said smiling, she brightened.

"Thank you!!" she exclaimed happily. "But how can I pay you?" he thought for a while.

"Can you help me?" he asked extending her a trey with drinks. She nodded.

"Just tell me where." She was thankful, she wouldn't be spending her money, and she was going to 'infiltrate' the Rain city, things were going great. Plus, Fay was a good person, she had found out during the afternoon as they talked.

* * *

**Later**

It was around 2:30 a.m. and she was exhausted, who would have thought that serving tables was so damn tiring? Not her. She had taken her pouches and jacket off after 2 hours of serving, the pouches only got in the way, and moving from one place to another had made her really hot (in temperature).

She thought that the man would try dirty things whenever they could, but she had been wrong, it wasn't like in any of the bars she had ever seen, where the girls were constantly harassed, in here the men only flirted, but they never tried dirty things, she had asked Fay why a few hours ago.

"_Because if they try to harass someone they'll be punished."_ He had answered, and by punished, it meant the men would receive a beating, but it was rare, or so Fay said.

In the approximately 6 hours she had been working at the bar she had already memorized the table organization, and served she didn't knew how many treys of drinks and dango.

"Onee-san, let's have some fun!!" one of the man at the table she was currently serving purred drunkenly and his hand reached innocently for her thigh. She finished serving the drinks and retreated the silver stainless steel trey.

"Baka." She said and hit the man's head with the trey, she smiled in victory when the hand in her thigh disappeared and the man sulked into his chair.

"I apologise for his behaviour, he gets like this when he drinks." One of the other man in the table apologised, she simply nodded and walked back to the bar to go get the next round of drinks to serve.

She had to say, the man in Rain, or at least those in this bar, were all respectful.

"Nice move Mikoto-san!" Fay told her while chuckling from how she had handled the situation. "You're the first waitress that does that!" he laughed lightly and filled her trey.

"I don't like perverts, it's enough that I have to deal with one since I got paired with him when I became a genin." She muttered. "And then dealing with his shishou, that hentai old man." Her eyes became dark as she remembered Naruto's Sexy no jutsu and Jiraya's Icha Icha Paradise books.

"And then my pervert sensei." She muttered remembering that Kakashi's always reading Jirayas's books.

"Cool down, that is as far as the men in here go, they know their limits." Fay reassured, she shook her head and smiled, remembering everyone could wait for later, now she had to serve tables.

"What tables?"

"Table 4, 7 and 10." She nodded and went her way.

* * *

**Even later**

It was around 4 a.m. and Sakura was helping Fay clean the bar, but she just wanted to let herself fall and let sleep consume her. She finished moping the floor and sighed, she had finally finished. When she had entered the bar she hadn't noticed just how large it was, and it became even bigger when it wasn't packed with people.

"I'm done." She announced in a tired voice, she had, after all, been travelling all day and had worked like crazy all night long, and without dinner at that.

"I'm just finishing the counter." Fay said as she walked to the counter to join him, and just like he said, he had most of the wooden counter cleaned.

"Thank you, with your help it only took half of the time to get everything clean!" she smiled lightly and nodded.

"Follow me." She nodded and followed him, after everything, she just wanted to sleep. They entered the back of the bar and walked past the kitchen to then go up a set of stairs. At the top of the stairs was a door, that Fay opened and closed only when she had entered the, she presumed, apartment.

"Do you want some dinner?" he asked, she pondered on that, and decided that she was starving.

"Hai, I'm starving." He nodded and took his shoes off. Not bothering to put some slippers, he just walked down the hallway. She took her shoes off and, as she walked down the hallway, looked around.

She walked by the living room, a rather spacious room with white couches surrounding a low glass table with a plasma screen on the wall in one side, in the other were some white and beige poufs surrounding another low glass table, this one had an artistic candle on top. On the couches area there was a beige fluffy looking carpet under the table, and then on the other side there was another one, under the glass table and poufs. She also noticed some shelves with books and other things.

There were closed doors and then she reached the kitchen, the floor there wasn't wooden, it was made of black bluish marble, the cabinets and cupboards had acrylic doors, the acrylic was of a dark blue and was dim, the counter tops were made of black purplish granite. There was a large silver fridge, the oven and microwave were built-in and had acrylic door like the rest of the cabinets and cupboards. There was a table, it was wooden with black purplish granite top, and there were 4 chairs around it.

All in all, the house was stylish and cosy.

"You have a great house." Sakura commented, as she walked closer to Fay, who was preparing something on the counter near the fridge.

"Thank you." He said. "Do you like sushi?" he asked and looked at her, she nodded.

"I do, why?" he showed her a plate filled with sushi rolls and motioned her to sit down. He put the plate on the table and went to take something out of a drawer.

"How long do you think you'll stay in Rain?" he asked her as he sat down in front of her and handed her a chopsticks set. She shrugged.

"I don't know exactly, I came so I could talk to… an old friend of mine, he has something that… belongs to me." Fay nodded and thanked for the food.

"Then I wish you luck!" he said and took a piece of sushi to his mouth.

"Thanks." She mumbled and thanked for the food.

They ate silently, and once they had finished she helped him clean up.

* * *

"You'll stay here." He said as he opened a door to reveal a room with a king sized bed covered in baby blue, 2 bed tables, one in each side, there was a desk and a chair, then 2 shelves with books in one side of the room, on the other there were sliding doors of a closet in the wall, and behind the bed was a small area with a couch and a low wooden table facing a balcony.

"Thank you!" she thanked again, for the nteenth time that day and he smiled, and then walked to his own room, 2 doors after the one he gave her.

She closed the door behind her and looked at the bed, she was dying to try it and sleep in it. She put her pouches and jacket on the desk and then frowned, she had remembered to get a change of clothes to come, but she had forgotten to bring any other clothes.

"I'm such a baka." She muttered and then let herself fall on the bed. "Hmmmmm, so comfy." She mumbled pleasurably and snuggled on the bed.

She decided her clothes were annoying and got up, just as she was about to take them off a knock was heard. She opened the door.

"I thought this would be useful!" he smiled and handed her some clothes, his clothes she presumed, and she also presumed for her to sleep in.

"How did yo-" he cut her off.

"I noticed you only had your clothes and 2 pouches with you." She blushed in embarrassment and he chuckled.

"T-thank you." He smiled again and walked down the hallway.

She closed the door and put the clothes Fay gave her on the bed and undressed. Thankful that she had now clothes to sleep in, she decided that tomorrow she should buy some other clothes, and dressed the blue baggy (for her) T-shirt and the black (also large for her) shorts.

She pulled the covers and then lay down, deciding that the night wasn't cold, she just pulled the baby blue sheet over her body and let sleep consume her, the sound of the rain outside lulling her.

* * *

**The next day**

She woke up to the sound of rain. Emerald green eyes fluttered open and the owner of said eye sat up in the bed. A smile appeared in her face.

"I haven't slept so well in a while." She mumbled contently and got up, her arms stretched above her head.

Taking her clothes she walked out of her room, the apartment was quiet, meaning she was the only one awake.

She discovered the bathroom quickly, and, after undressing herself, she entered the shower. As she let the warm water run down her body, she couldn't help but think about everything that happened.

Tears made their way to her eyes as she thought of her twins and Sasuke.

She shook her head before breaking down, and thought about Gaara and Sai, who had done their best to help her, and Itachi, who had offered his help, and also Fay, a new found friend, who was helping her. And thinking about where exactly she was, she realised, that for the moment, she was as close to her twins as she could get, and she was getting closer as time went by.

After washing herself, she dressed the clothes from the previous day and got out of the bathroom. Fay seemed to still be asleep, so, after seeing in a clock in the living room that it was 13:43, she decided to prepare some lunch.

* * *

Blue eyes fluttered open and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, before he got up and stretched, yawning in the process. He made his way to the bathroom, still half asleep, and decided to take a shower, yesterday had been tiring.

After a quick, relaxing shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist and proceeded to brush his teeth, as he did he stared at his reflection in the mirror, blue eyes stared back at him, and he mentally laughed at his childish attitude, but it was a habit since he was a kid, and as they say, old habits die hard.

After his teeth were taken care of, he proceeded to get dressed, black boxers, navy blue jeans and a baby blue shirt.

Before leaving the bathroom he towelled his hair so it wouldn't be soaked, leaving his damp blond locks, somehow messy.

As he left the bathroom he closed his eyes in sweet delight, smelling the sweet aroma of cooking.

Remembering the pink haired woman was there, he made his way to the kitchen, curious about what she had prepared that smelled so pleasantly good.

As he walked past the living room he saw the clock in one of is shelved pointing 14:36.

He poked his head in the kitchen and noticed the pink haired girl in front of the oven, wearing the clothes she had the day before, her hair set in a messy bun that was held together with a pair of silver senbon.

"What'cha preparing Mikoto-san?" he knew it wasn't her name, and it certainly didn't suit her, but oh well! If she gave a fake name it must have been for something.

She turned her head to the door to see Fay entering the kitchen, and a smile graced her features.

"I kinda raided your kitchen, I hope you don't mind." He gave her an amused smile.

"You didn't break anything did ya?" he inquired teasingly, to which she laughed softly and shook her head.

"No, I didn't!" he smiled at her and walked closer.

"So, what'cha doing?" he asked again, now leaning against the granite counter.

"Tempura, Onigiri, Omelet and Gyoza!" she answered while focussing on her cooking.

"Seriously?" she nodded. "Cool!!" he exclaimed. "I'm not a very good cook." He chuckled. "The only things I can do are Sushi, onigiri and instant ramen, everything else's just alien!" she giggled.

"You just sounded like my sensei." _"And Yamato-taichou too."_ She finished in her mind. "He can only make easy stuff too!" Fay smiled, she seemed… not happier, but in a brighter mood today.

* * *

After a quiet lunch getting to know each other better, the 2 walked out of the apartment, it was still raining, but it was a light rain.

"I have a few errands, so I'll just show you where the stores are, ok?" Sakura smiled.

"Fine by me, I just need a few new clothes, and then I'll take a look around, to get to know the city better!" Fay nodded, a smile gracing his features.

"If I'm not home when you get there, there's a key next to the door." She nodded.

"Thank you!" She received a nod, and then Fay motioned her to look at a street.

"This street's where all the stores are, don't loose yourself!" he joked, to which she shook her head.

"Ok, thanks!" he nodded again and then went his way.

She entered the busy street and started by looking at the stores from outside.

This street had to be the biggest of the village, it seemed like an avenue, or better, a huge mall spread in a huge street.

She had been in a few stores and bough a few clothes and shoes, she had also bough a few medical things and another set of weapons, surprisingly, she had found stores with reasonable prices.

Having too many bags, she had also bough a bag to put everything in, and since the rain seemed to be permanent, she had bough an umbrella too.

She was now walking around the city, making a more detailed mental map, it would be useful in the future.

She had to admit that the city of Rain was a great city, it was modern, and especially, it was more peaceful than Konoha or Suna.

She sighed, it wasn't the time to remember everyone, that she knew were probably trying to find her, well, Rain was the last place they would search right? Or maybe not.

With a sigh, she walked back to Fay's apartment. She had been really lucky to find someone like him, and integrating Rain was an extra she hadn't thought of.

As she reached the bar, she entered by the back, and the door was opened, Fay was there.

She entered, put the umbrella away, took her shoes off, and walked to her provisory room.

She had the feeling she would be spending more time than she wanted to in Rain, but it could be a stupid feeling, only time would tell.

* * *

After another tiring night working at the bar and a good night of sleep, Fay woke up.

Blue eyes fluttered open, and a yawn escaped his lips. He got up and stretched, then making his way to the bathroom to wake up completely. He noticed Sakura was already awake and was cooking, the smell of cooking was something to drool.

After a quick shower, he got dressed, navy blue boxers and navy blue jeans, and a baby blue shirt with a navy blue T-shirt over the shirt.

He walked out of the bathroom and went to the kitchen, the pink haired female was waiting for him, delicious looking food was already displayed on the table.

"I think I'm gonna kidnap you and make you my permanent cook!!" he joked, and she laughed lightly, raising her fist in the air.

"You'd have to defeat me first!" she grinned mischievously. He chuckled and sat down.

"I have the feeling you'd be hard to defeat." He mused, she merely smiled.

They ate dinner quietly at the sound of light rain.

After they ate, they washed the dishes, it was around 3p.m., and what he said slipped from his lips unintentionally.

"Mikoto isn't a name that suits you." He instantly froze as he heard his words. The woman next to him stopped washing the plate.

"I suppose not." She spoke in a strangely calm tone. "If you had to guess, what'd you say my name his?" she turned her head to face him, and to his surprise, she only showed curiosity.

"Well…" he thought for a moment. "Maybe Hikari or Tsuki." He answered truthfully. She tilted her head and resumed her washing.

"Light or Moon." She repeated more to herself than anything. "Why those?" he shrugged.

"I dunno. Light maybe 'cause you seem to standout in the shadows, and Moon 'cause… I dunno, I just thinks it fits you." She nodded and then grinned.

"Then what about I change my name?" he raised a brow. "Light of the Moon? Hikari no Tsuki." She said. He nodded.

"Yeah, it suits you better than Haruno Mikoto. Definitively." He said nodding, she smiled, although Haruno was her real name, it didn't fit either with Hikari nor Tsuki, and having a completely different from her name alias was a good thing.

After they finished cleaning the kitchen they moved to the living room, and as she went to the balcony door to look outside, she noticed the Rain was stopping and the clouds were disappearing. A smile appeared on her face.

"The Rain's stopping!" Fay walked to stand next to her.

"You're right, that means someone of the 10's coming." He mumbled to himself. She looked at him in confusion.

"One of the 10?" he nodded and looked at her.

"They're the higher-ups. Like any other Hidden Village, we have shinobi, students, genin, chunin, jounin, ANBU and all of that." She nodded. "But instead of having a Kage, like the Kazekage or Raikage, we have the 10." She tilted her head. "They're like the Kage, but they're 10…" he paused, trying to find appropriate words. "They're… hmm… our special guard in some sort of way."

"Got it." she answered and waited for him to continue.

"Well, the 10, amongst them there's our Leader, like a Kage, but not quite." She nodded, so far she understood. "So, 1 of the 10 is the Leader, and the rest are the strongest amongst the strongest. Our Leader is like a Kage and the other 9 are like the council!" She nodded, she was just wondering if the people in Rain knew that they're higher ups were criminals. Fay looked outside, the sun was high in the sky, shinning and giving a peaceful glow to the city.

"Even if they are S-rand criminals, they do a great job protecting the village, and not only in the fighting department, our economy is very good too since the Akatsuki took over." She gaped, so they knew.

"Don't you care that they're criminals?" she asked in disbelief, Fay smiled at her.

"Would you rather have a man that only cares about spending his money in futile things and let his people starve to death as a leader, or a S-rank criminal that takes care of everyone equally, that protects everyone, that makes the land wealthy and that kills other criminals?" she opened her mouth to speak, and Fay raised a brow at her, and she shut her mouth, he had point. If what he said was true, and by now she knew it was, then having Akatsuki rule Rain was the best that happened, at least to the citizens of Rain, for the rest of the world, that was another story.

"Fine." She mumbled. "Akatsuki does a good job." She wanted to just beat herself into a pulp, why did she have to end up with this inner conflict?

Deciding to return to the main topic, she spoke.

"So, someone's coming." She stated, Fay nodded, and a grin appeared on his face.

"I haven't seen my best friend in a while!" she raised a brow.

"Your best friend?" she inquired.

"Yeah, you gotta know him." He stated. "He's Akatsuki after all." It seemed as if he didn't mind about Akatsuki.

"_**Oh, wait, he doesn't cares, he actually praises them."**_ The Inner Sakura that had long since appeared spoke sarcastically.

"Who is he?" she asked reluctantly. Fay grinned.

"A crazy bastard." Was all Fay said before walking away from the window and into the hallway.

Sakura narrowed her eyes in inner conflict, why did she have to run into someone that had friends in Akatsuki? And why did it have to be a good person??

* * *

**So? how was it?? not much action in this one, but it's coming...**

**oh, you guys are gonna love Fay's best friend... -grins-**

**but you'll only find out in the next chapter or so!!**

**once again, i deeply apologise for upddating so late, and i'll try to update quickly, but i won't promise anything, firstly 'cause i need to work on chapter 15 of The Longest Year Ever, and secondly 'cause i've been having this immense rge to start another fic, that and the images and ideas just won't get out of my mind, but i'm not someone who let's things unfinished, so i'll do my best to satisfy my dear fans!!**

**Love you all, Kaori-chan!!**


	11. Chapter 11

**My dear readers, I'm sorry for taking so long to update, but school's been a bitch, and I also had to work on my other fic, The Longest Year Ever, I'd recomend everyone to read it, I personaly like it a lot, This one too!!**

**I hope you all like this chapter, I put a lot of effort into it, and -drum rolls- the beggining of SasuSaku moments starts at the end, its still not much, but it's the intro to everything else!!**

**I already have a few ideas for next chapters, but my ideas need a lot of organization, so, be patient and bear with me please!!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto and all the characters of the series belong to Kishimoto-san!**

**Enjoy, and please review!!**

**It's a pleasure to open my mail box and have all those wonderfull reviews waiting to be read!! Also, please give me your opinions, critics and ideas, it helps!! Reviews are always welcome and make me a very happy person!!**

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**Previously on The Secret Behind:**

Sick and tired of playing hide 'n seek, Sakura goes through all the Akatsuki bases that Itachi signals on a map, and finds herself in Rain.

She meets a nice man called Fay, and he offers her a place to stay, which she accepts, paying by helping him with his bar.

As she talks with Fay, she finds a new alias, one that, supposedly, suits her better: Tsuki no Hikari, which means Moon of Light.

As the clouds allow the sun to warm the city, Sakura finds out that Fay knows that his country is ruled by criminals, but doesn't mind, saying that they were the best thing that happened to Rain. She also finds out that Fay's best friend is an Akatsuki.

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**Chapter 11**

Sakura stood in the living room, standing against the window door frame, while looking outside. The conversation she had had with Fay earlier still playing in her head.

"Still thinking about it?" she was startled when she heard him, but didn't show and merely looked at him over her shoulder.

"It's just that… it's hard to accept ideals completely different from my own." She answered truthfully. He nodded and smiled.

"It's not very different from having a Kage and a council as diplomats, the only difference is that they left their countries behind for some reason, personal or not." He paused and settled leaning against the other side of the window door frame.

"I'm the same you know, and I didn't turn out that bad!" he grinned and chuckled at her choked reaction.

"I can tell you about it if you want." He offered. She shook her head and swallowed, he was what?

"Please do." She spoke, her voice too high pitched, meaning she wasn't that comfortable.

"Well…" he looked outside. "I was born in Iwa, just like my best friend, we both followed Shinobi training, but he only had a couple of friends because of his kekkai genkai." He paused and tilted his head. "We had a 'happy' life, of some sorts, it was simple and we liked it." a smile graced his lips. "Suzume-chan, his sister, became my girlfriend when we were 14, he was always threatening me." He let out a serene laugh, one that held nostalgia. "They were twins, and they really looked like each other, but their personalities were different, she was calm and shy, while he was goofy and outgoing." He seemed sad, deep down.

"What happened?" he looked at her, his blue eyes almost piercing into her soul.

"I never met my father." He looked back outside. "And when I was 12 I found out why, my mother was raped, I don't know by whom though. He had a similar story, well not really." He let out a sigh. "His father was killed when he was 6, and he and Suzume were raised by their mother, who was a civilian." She listened attentively, his story, until now, wasn't that dramatic, but she wanted him to continue.

"He had some kind of knight in a shinning armour complex, and that's why he became a shinobi, to protect the ones he loved. I kinda had the same complex!" he grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. "The day it all came down to hating Iwa, was the day that we watched the worse thing in the world." He sighed again, and shifted, a sign that he was about to tell something that he didn't tell everyone.

"We were 15, and one night, we were ambushed while we were taking a walk, me, him, Suzume and our mothers, it was my mother's birthday." He paused. "We fought the best we could, being the best Chuunin in the village, but in the end we were trapped, tied with chains, and we…" he swallowed and closed his eyes. "We watched them torturing our mothers, and… then we had to watch them raping them…" his voice cracked, and he closed his hands, tightening his fist until they turned white. "We had to watch, without being able to do anything…" his voice was almost a whisper. "Without being able to protect the ones we loved." She could see the tears that he refused to shed. "After they tortured and raped our mothers, they killed them, cutting off limb by limb, until they were nothing more than a puddle of gore." She sniffed and clenched her fists, who would do something so inhumane?

"After that, they did the same thing to Suzume, the torture… the rape…" he stopped and shook his head. "He snapped completely, went into berserk mode, and he blew them all up, I can still feel the chill I felt when he started fighting them, he didn't torture them, he simply killed them, they never saw it coming." She let out a few tears and sniffed.

"W-what about Suzume?" she asked quietly.

"We tried to save her, but she… she died in our arms." He cleaned his face with one hand. There was silence.

"After that, we saw the hitai-ate of one of the corpses, they were from Iwa, just like us, and when we managed to see who they were, we even saw our sensei." She cleaned her tears, it was a tragic story, a really tragic one.

"After that night, we tried to tell the story to our superiors, to the Kage, you know what he told us?" she shook her head. "He told us that nothing wrong had been done, and that nothing had been reported, that we must have been delusional." She was shocked. "So we left Iwa, we had nothing left there for us anyway, and we never did like all those rocks and the dirt." He tried to smile, but he just couldn't.

"So… you became missing-nins?" he nodded.

"Yeah, we did. And one day, the Akatsuki went to him, and he was forced to join them, and that's what he did, he actually didn't have a choice." He walked into the veranda and leaned against the railing. "While he was in the Akatsuki, I stayed in the Tea Country, it was calm, and it had trees, the ocean, I loved it, and so did he!" he smiled, his face facing the sky. "I only came to Rain when the leader stopped being Pein, 7 years ago, also, only 3 of the previous members remained, everyone else is new to the organization." She nodded. He took a deep breath and then turned around to face her.

"Being a missing-nin doesn't mean you have to be someone bad, in my case, it just means I couldn't stay in the same place as rapists." She nodded and lowered her head.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, to which he walked closer to her and put his hand over her shoulder.

"Don't be, I know it's tragic, but it's the past, we can't do anything about it." she looked up at him. "Besides, if that hadn't happened to us, right now, we'd probably be the same as them." He smiled gently and she nodded. "You can't judge people by their status, you have to get to know them to be allowed to judge them correctly." She nodded and lowered her head again.

"I know." And she did, all those years ago, she had judged so many people, and then they had turned out to be the opposite, like Naruto for instance.

There was a quiet silence, until someone broke the silence, and it wasn't them.

"You know, it's not very polite to talk about someone that isn't present." Fay walked outside again, only to receive a punch as soon as he did.

"Oy, what was that for Teme?" Fay muttered while nursing his now sore arm.

"Shut up Dobe." That reminded her of something from her genin days.

"You shut up Teme." Fay muttered back.

"Didn't I already tell you not to talk about _her_." Fay tilted his head and looked away.

"You can't keep it a secret from everyone, talking about it makes it easier to deal with." Fay spoke quietly, not facing whoever was leaning against the wall.

"It's the past, it should be forgotten." Fay looked down at those words. Sakura, now Hikari, took a deep breath and spoke, trying to break the tension that had settled.

"The past should never be forgotten, we should get over it and not live in it, but having memories of our past reminds us of who we are, what we did, how much we changed, and we also learn with the past." Fay looked up at her, surprised.

"Wise words." The unknown person muttered. "She'd have said the same." He whispered.

Sakura lowered her head and walked inside, then standing next to one of the couches. For the past years, she had only thought about herself, her close friends and her twins, hearing something so tragic from someone she barely knew, she was brought down from her own little world to the real world. She should pay attention to what was surrounding her.

The awkward silence was broken, when the unknown male spoke.

"Oy Dobe, happy birthday by the way." Fay looked at the male and smiled.

"My birthday was 3 weeks ago." A snort was heard.

"Been busy, hn." Fay rolled his eyes.

"Right." And then he walked inside. "Get in Teme."

"Stop ordering me around Dobe." Fay stopped and looked back over his shoulder.

"I'm older than you Teme." A grunt was heard, and then the male walked inside. She was shocked when she saw him.

"So what Dobe? Hn?" the blond muttered and made himself comfortable in one of the couches. "You're almost 30, I ain't!!" he grinned when Fay glared at him.

With that piece of info, she was distracted and looked at Fay.

"You're almost 30?" she asked quietly. "But you seem around 20." She mused. Fay kept glaring at the other blond as he answered.

"I'm 26." He muttered. She nodded.

"It's not polite to not introduce your best friend to your guests." She turned back to see the bomber artist looking at her in amusement.

"I'm Tsuki no Hikari." She spoke politely, maybe she could fool him.

"Hikari huh?" she saw him containing a chuckle and felt like punching him. "It's suits ya, yeah!!" he grinned and turned his gaze to Fay.

"Will you stop glaring already, I'm supposed to be the childish one, not you." Fay snorted, crossed his arms over his chest and looked outside, to which Sakura giggled, he was acting so not like the man she had come to know. Deidara turned back to her and smiled, crossing one of his legs over the other.

"If I had to guess what you came here for, I'd say you came to get something back, hn." He tilted his head. "But that would just be me musing around." She gulped, was he gonna turn her in?

"Stupid Teme." Deidara turned back to Fay and glared in annoyance.

"Oy, be glad I'm not dead, 'cause 7 years ago I was." That was right, hadn't Sasuke killed him when they were 15?

"You were killed?" she asked curiously, as if she knew nothing about it. He turned back to her and tilted his head.

"Yeah, I was. I was 19 back then. Now I'm…" he paused and counted his fingers "23!" He paused and glanced at Fay, to then roll his eyes. "But 3 years later Leader resurrected me with a jutsu he created, doesn't needs sacrifices for each day I live and all." He waved a hand over his head. "I'd rather be dead than to live by other's lives." She slowly sat down on the couch and let out a breath, why did it have to be the bomber who had a grudge against her because she had killed his master.

Silence, once again, filled the room, until Fay broke it, he actually had no idea they knew each other from the past.

"Ne, Hikari-chan, can you make some tea?" she looked up and smiled, an excuse to get away from Deidara for a while.

"Sure." She got up and walked to the kitchen, glad she didn't have to be in that awkward silence anymore.

* * *

After about 20 minutes she figured she should actually go back to the living room with the tea she had prepared, so she put it in a trey and walked to the living room, to see Fay and Deidara having a glaring contest. She giggled, they looked just like Sasuke and Naruto when they were genin. They both turned to her and had the same reaction, they smiled.

"I made tea!" she said and walked closer to them, holding out the trey so they could take a cup of tea.

"Thanks!" they said at the same time.

"By the way, I haven't introduced the Teme to you!" Deidara rolled his eyes, and she simply smiled. "He's Deidara!"

"Nice to meet you!" she bowed lightly and then sat down, taking a cup of tea for herself.

"Nice to meet you too, yeah!" he replied just as politely. She was starting to get a different of opinion about Deidara.

* * *

"Ne, Jin, do you want me to go get him?" the blond haired boy looked at her and shrugged.

"Do as you please." He spoke, to which she glared at him.

"Why are you such a jerk?" he looked up at her, his sapphire blue eyes staring into her also sapphire blue ones.

"Why are you so annoying?" she turned her back at him.

"Would it hurt you to at least pretend you care?" she whispered and started to walk away, when suddenly he was behind her, holding her wrist.

She stopped walking, not turning to face him.

He lowered his face until his breath was fanning her neck. He ran his free hand over her raven locks and sighed.

"Sorry." He mumbled and let her go, and then walked back to where he had been sitting.

She smiled and looked at him over her shoulder.

"You're forgiven." He kept his poker face on, but deep down she knew he was smiling, even if he didn't show, she knew him enough to know.

"Keep an eye on them 'kay?" he gave a curt nod. "I'll go get Deidara-sempai. Do you want anything in particular for dinner?" he looked up at her and shook his head.

"You choose Kaorin." She smiled and nodded.

"Okay!" with that she walked into the veranda and started jumping from rooftop to rooftop to go get Deidara-sempai.

* * *

They had been chatting about random things, mostly Deidara and Fay talking and Sakura listening, when someone interrupt them.

"Anou." The 3 stopped talking and looked to the veranda, where a girl with long raven hair and sapphire blue eyes stood. She wore black clothes, a black skirt over black shorts, a black fishnet shirt with a blue strapless top over it and then a black sleeveless vest over it, half zipped.

"I'm sorry to interrupt Deidara-senpai." Deidara shrugged.

"Don't worry 'bout it Kaorin-chan, hn!" he grinned and got up.

Sakura looked the girl over, she looked like a teen, and she was pretty. What had Sasuke been doing to the organization?

As Fay and Deidara said their goodbyes, she walked to the veranda, where the girl was waiting patiently.

"Who's getting dinner tonight, yeah?" Kaorin looked at Deidara, who was walking out of the room.

"I am." She replied, to which the blond nodded and stopped next to Sakura.

"I'll help you, yeah!" Kaorin smiled. Deidara leaned down so he could whisper into her hear.

"I'd be careful if I were you Sakura-san, Sasuke-sama always has an ace up his sleeve." He paused. "But since I'm not a dumb as everyone thinks I am and that I know a few things, I won' tell him you're here." She stared at him as he walked to Kaorin.

"Ne, Kao-chan, can we get ramen??" Kaorin sighed.

"We can't just feed them ramen senpai." She scolded.

"But, I like ramen." He whined and looked at her with puppy dog eyes. "Can we please get ramen?" Kaorin shifted, and it reminded Sakura of what Naruto did to her to get his ramen when she said no, and she knew for a fact that it was undonfortable to be in that position.

"Senpai…" she looked uncomfortable.

"Please?? Pretty please?" he whined some more.

"Stop torturing her with your childish attitude, besides, every idiot knows that eating ramen all the time is bad for health." Deidara turned to Fay with a deathly glare, while Kaorin turned to him with a grateful look.

"Shut up, you only eat onigiri and sushi." He crossed his arms in front of himself and pouted. "Let's go Kao-chan, hn." Kaoring giggled.

"Hai senpai!" she waved at the other 2, and then they departed, Deidara still pouting.

"He can be the most serious person in the world, and he can also be the most childish gaki in the world!" Fay mused and shook his head. "But either way, he's my best friend."

"I know what it feels like." Sakura, or Hikari, whispered back, she knew what it felt like, Naruto and Kiba were like that too. And now that she thought about them, she realised that she had left them out for so long.

* * *

Jin was sitting in the couch in the room while looking at the sleeping twins in the bed. He had been asking himself why Leader had kidnapped 2 kids, but he wasn't going to ask, he had the feeling it was personal. Over the past weeks, Leader hadn't been acting normal, he had been acting… well, he did things that he wouldn't think Leader would ever do, like… having a sad and hurt look whenever he saw the twins. He knew their Leader was someone that didn't show his emotions, but he was the same, so he managed to read Leader a little.

It was strange, he had joined the organization when he was 15, 3 years ago. At that time, the organization was still broken, not many members were still alive. Pein and Konan were kicked out, but were kept to do missions. The members had only been Leader, Kisame, Deidara and Tobi back then, 4 members in total. He had been offered the place, and at the same time Leader had offered a post on the organization to Kaorin as well.

He knew Kaorin since they were 3 years old, they had grown up together, been team mates, and left their home village together. They had always been together, in the war zone, and in the peace of the world.

A few months later Kai had joined, that was 2 years and a half ago. Kai was someone that befriended everyone, he was goofy, but not obnoxious. He was a missing-nin from Suna, and he had peculiar abilities, he was a great puppeteer, he had already seen Kai fight, and it was quite a show, but the thing that made Kai stand out was his strength, he was an average close combat fighter, but he had super-human strength. Usually, only medics with perfect chakra control had super strength, and even Hana, who was the Akatsuki's medic didn't had that, but somehow Kai was an exception. A very clumsy exception, he wasted a lot of his chakra on useless things, was always getting himself in trouble, but he somehow had superhuman strength when he fought seriously.

The next to join had been Ryo, a couple of months later. Ryo was another goofy character, but more serious than Kai. He was a missing-nin from Kiri and had a calm and relaxed personality, always being positive even in the most dangerous situations. His area of expertise were water based jutsus, but on crisis situations he used his 'reserve' jutsus, those jutsus being ice and snow jutsus, very hard to perform without a kekkai genkai, which Ryo hadn't.

Then 2 years ago, Ruki had joined, and a couple of weeks later it had been Hana, and the organization was complete, resurrected.

Ruki was a very serious character, even worse than Leader and himself, he liked to show off his abilities, without actually doing so. He had a very calculating and ruthless demeanor, and that kinda made him the organization finance manager, key word being kinda, because Leader liked to have everything under control. His area of expertise were wind based jutsus, and some earth jutsus, which he didn't use very often, being the neat freak he was. If he came out of a fight dirty, he became a royal pain in the ass.

Then Hana, she was a missing-nin from Iwa. She had a calm personality, and was always smiling, well, except when she had her emotions work wonders and she became very sensitive to everything around her. A very talented medic-nin, although she wasn't able of having super-strength. She also used earth based jutsus. Whenever they had to cook, she was the one that did, and she actually cooked pretty good stuff.

Then there were himself and Kaorin.

Kaorin was a talented nin, that used lightening and wind jutsus. A calm personality, with high risks of becoming very sensitive, she also had a high affinity of befriending almost everyone and to be quite annoying.

As for himself, he used lightening and fire jutsus. As he grew up with Kaorin, they had created jutsus that they used together, like mixing fire with wind. They were both missing-nins from Kumo, and had been friends since they knew each other.

At first, he had been the one to walk away from the village, but she had followed, and begged him to take her with her, and so he had, and he didn't regret his decision.

Now, all of them, Akatsuki, were respected by the citizens, and were considered the best thing that had happened to the city of Rain.

But Leader, except for Tobi, Deidara and Kisame, no one knew about Leader's past, except that he had left Konoha behind, to then join Orochimaru, and later on kill the snake. The ones that actually knew about Sasuke-sama's past didn't dare speak of it, it wasn't allowed, it wasn't their place.

Without Leader's knowledge, while he had been on a mission to the Fire country, he had gotten a little more info about Leader from and old lady. He had learned about the Uchiha massacre, but he still couldn't understand why, instead of killing, he had only locked up his brother. Again, he wasn't going to ask. Then he had also learned about his team mates and sensei, only briefly though. He had learned that Leader's sensei had been the famous Hatake Kakashi, known as the Copy-Ninja, and that one of his team mates was the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto, the Rukodaime Hokage. About his other team mate, there lay the mystery, it was a girl, Haruno Sakura, she was said to be in all the bingo books, being the Godaime Hokage Tsuade's apprentice, and having surpassed her shishou. She was said to be the best medic nin of the whole world, being able to find cures for unknown poisons before the poisoned person died, and having superhuman strength that allowed her to break mountains.

He hadn't gotten much more about her, he didn't even knew what she looked like. He had already heard of her, after all, she was famous. But he knew nothing else, she was famous from years back, but then it was as if she had disappeared from the shinobi world without a trace.

He snapped from his inner thoughts when he felt a light thug at his sleeve, looking down he saw the small 4 year old boy looking up at him. He raised a brow.

"Anou, can I make a drawing?" Ryuuki asked quietly, to which he nodded.

"I'll go get some sheets of paper and crayons." He announced and got up.

"Arigatou Jin-onii-chan!" Ryuuki thanked smiling and then sat down on the couch, waiting obediently for Jin to come back.

* * *

The day, once again, was rainy. After a couple of days, the rain had returned, a light rain though.

She sighed and leaned against the counter, being bored, there weren't many costumers today.

"Hikari-san, could you go on an errand for me?" she tilted her head at Fay. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen any other Akatsuki after the day Deidara had came.

"Sure." She answered smiling. Fay handed her a small paper with a list of things he needed, and she got up.

"Here's the money, you can buy groceries for upstairs if you wish too." She nodded and ran her eyes over the list, mainly things for the bar, like tea, sugar, and all of that.

She walked outside, taking her umbrella, and then started walking down the streets.

She had already memorized the important streets of the city, the city was built on an uniform pattern, which made it easy not to get lost.

She entered the shops, chatting with the owner as he got her things, and then left. She repeated the process a few more times, until she had everything Fay had asked for, and groceries to fill his kitchen.

She walked calmly through the streets, her bags filling her hands, the umbrella held balanced between her left arm and torso, so she wouldn't get wet.

She suddenly stopped, and sneezed. It was as if she was missing something, but she didn't knew what. And that's when she saw him, walking down the streets, dressed in all black, his hands shoved in his pockets, eyes blankly staring ahead. He walked unnoticed in the crowd, blending in perfectly, as if he was part of the city from the very beginning.

She noticed he didn't have an umbrella, and that his hair was slightly damp, but he didn't seem to care.

The people in the streets, it was as if he wasn't there, but with his looks she doubted his presence was unnoticed.

He walked past her, without even noticing her. As he did, her heartbeat increased, and she suddenly forgot how to breathe. There was only his presence, overwhelming, making her senses go high, making her realise she would have to deal with him one time or another.

He walked past her, confident strides, and his always present arrogance and coolness. She was frozen, but then a thought crossed her mind, no matter what, she had to make things right again, she didn't want anyone paying for her mistakes.

* * *

**I hope everyone enjoyed, please review and have a nice day!!**

**(I'm going to the teathre tomorrow... Yay!!) lol**

**I'll try to update soon, but please be patient!!**

**Love you all very very much, Kaori-chan!!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm so sorry for the delay my dear readers and reviewers, but I've been having a slight blocking, and I kinda didn't have many ideas for a next chapter, but then I started one, and the ideas just kept coming!!**

**So, here you have it, and I hope you all enjoy!!**

**Please review at the end, reviews make me happy, and when I'm happy I want to always update sooner to satisfy all of you!!**

**Anyway, I tried to put some humour in this chapter, it' towards the end though, you'll see!!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto and all characters related belong to Masashi Kishimoto, only the storyline belongs to me!!**

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* * *

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**Chapter 12**

He watched as Jin and Kaorin took care of the twins. Mainly Kaorin being hyper and playing with Kyuuki, and Jin sitting next to Ryuuki, helping the small boy draw.

He was sitting in the couch, reading a few reports from the last missions he had assigned to the ANBU.

The ANBU, Pein had considered himself a great Leader, but he didn't even had an ANBU section for his nins, so he had to create one when he took over. And the nins had liked his decision.

If, in any other country, someone asked people what they though about Rain, the answer would be automatic, _"Rain is the scum lair."_, but it wasn't, he made sure of that. In his city, there were no rapists, no paedophiles and no men who abused women. Sure, most of the rain nins were criminals and missing-nins from other countries, but they never raped, adults or children, and they didn't abuse innocents.

His nins were civilized, people that only killed because it was necessary, not for pleasure, or people that had abandoned their home town for personal business. So he took them in, making them be a part of something, not letting good people with some flaws become scum.

"Onii-chan." He broke his train of thoughts and looked down to see the small raven haired boy looking at him. "Why are you sad?" he tilted his head to the side, he wasn't sad.

"I'm not." He stated, and Ryuuki shook his head.

"Yes you are." He blinked at the small boy, why was he so insistent? "Kaa-chan says that when you're sad, you should talk about it." he raised a brow at the small boy, who was being too insistent, and insistent people annoyed him.

Without a word, he got up and walked away. He didn't feel anything, he wasn't sad. He just wasn't.

Ryuuki lowered his head and walked back to where Jin was sitting. Said teen had been watching.

"Ne, Jin-onii-chan, why does Leader-nii-chan doesn't wants to admit that he's sad?" for a 4 year old, Jin mused, he sure was perceptive, and percepting what Leader though was hard.

The small boy waited for his answer, and sat down in front of him.

"You know." He looked at the boy. "You have a kaa-chan that teaches you how to deal with feelings." Ryuuki nodded. "He didn't, his kaa-chan died when he was little, so he doesn't know." Ryuuki was nodding, and he realized that Kaorin was behind the boy, looking at him, a grin on her face.

"I could swear I haven't heard you speak so much in years." He rolled his eyes.

"Don't start." She crawled closer, that annoying grin growing wider.

"And you said something deep too."

"Kaorin." He warned, and suddenly she was in front of him.

"Wait 'till Kai and Ryo hear about it." and she was running away as he got up, a glare in place. She stopped at the door and looked back at him.

"Don't you dare." He hissed, and she just poked her tongue out at him.

"I am _sooo_ telling them." And she was out, and he just sighed, she was so childish sometimes, and over stupid things at that.

"Ne, Onii-chan, why did Kaorin-nee-chan left?" he looked down at the small girl.

"Because she'd get hurt if she stayed." He managed to say calmly, his mind plotting to get back at her. She wasn't just gonna run around telling Kai and Ryo, of all people, that he had said that without him doing anything, oh no.

* * *

He sat on the roof, letting the light rain fall over him without caring.

He wasn't sad. Where had the kid gone and got that idea? He wasn't sad. Period. End of conversation.

There was nothing for him to be sad about, it wasn't as if someone had hurt him, because that hadn't happened, never did, except his brother, but that was in the past, and he had already made his brother pay. So, if you asked him, no, he wasn't sad. Not even the tiniest bit.

He was frustrated, yes, because things weren't supposed to be happening like this. But he wasn't sad. No, never. He wasn't ok? He wasn't.

He also felt betrayed, but that was something that he was getting used to, so many people had betrayed him, like his brother, like… her. But that didn't mean he was sad, because he wasn't.

Why would he get sad anyway? She was just an annoying, rambling, over caring, annoying, stupid, pathetic, weak, annoying and way too cheerful person. And she honestly annoyed him, so he didn't care that she had gone against what she had told him when he had left Konoha and had kids with his replacement. Nop, he didn't care. He never did. Did you see him caring? No.

He just kidnapped her kids so she would suffer, because he was a sadist, and in his opinion, she had to suffer. She shouldn't have such a perfect life when everyone else's was so fucked up. Like Naruto, he had heard about the Kyuubi almost coming out and going berserk, and he had also heard that the village had been afraid of their new Hokage, but Naruto had given his best to fight it, and had protected his village.

And Sakura, she lived in her own little world, where everything was perfect, where she had a happy family and the rest of the world could just die, and she wouldn't care.

Not like he cared, he never did. She was the annoying fangirl that didn't let him have his personal space, always getting closer. She was annoying. And he didn't care, she could have become a whore, he wouldn't have cared. Nop, not a bit.

And he wasn't sad, he never got sad, because he had nothing to get sad about. He didn't have a family, his brother had made sure he didn't have one.

It wasn't like he cared about anything, besides being the best and one day make Rain a best village than Konoha, Kiri, Kumo, Iwa and Suna together.

Not like he cared he would never resurrect his clan, they were all dead, who would care anyway? No one.

And he wasn't sad. How many times did he have to say it? He wasn't sad, damn it. He wasn't. He was just frustrated and feeling betrayed, nothing else. Just that, not sad, never sad.

* * *

He ran a hand through his raven locks as he sat down at the counter. He urgently needed a drink, to clear his mind a bit.

He usually didn't drink, but when he had too much in mind, he drank a little (just a glass or two), just to clear his thoughts, and it worked.

The blond walked from the other side of the counter to then stand in front of him.

"You sure don't like umbrella's Sasuke." He shrugged, he didn't mind the rain.

"Can I get you something?" he nodded. He didn't mind not being called Leader or have a –sama after his name when it was Fay, said person was Deidara's best friend, and he actually gave good advices.

"Something to clear my thoughts." Fay nodded and took a bottle, then filling a glass and handing it to him.

"What's in your mind, maybe I can help." He shook his head.

"I sent a team to get Juugo and another one to get Suigetsu." Fay nodded, preparing a few drinks. "_That_ man is still hiding, somewhere in the Tea country." Fay nodded.

"Well, has anyone searched him in the temples?" Sasuke took a sip from his drink and pondered on those words. The truth was, usually nobody checked the temples, because of the monks and all.

"I'll have to remember that." Fay smiled.

* * *

She laughed lightly as one of the men at the table finished a joke. It was nice to work in such a good ambiance. She handed them their drinks and then walked to the bar. And then she instantly froze, wanting nothing else but to disappear. There he was, casually talking with Fay and sipping from his drink.

"_Oh kami, oh kami, what do I do?? What do I do??"_ she hurried to the back and then closed the door, he couldn't see her there could he??

"_Damn it, damn it."_ she inwardly cursed as her heart pounded against her ribcage.

She squeaked and jumped when the door opened.

"Hikari-san?" she sighed in relief and held her hand over her heart, trying, and failing miserably, to calm it down. The knowledge that _he_ was there didn't help either.

"Are you ok?" she nodded, her face flushing lightly and her hands twitching to finger the hem of her shirt.

"I-I'm fine." She stuttered in a high pitched voice, which made her receive a raised brow and an amused smile from Fay.

"_Calm down, calm down damn it."_ she looked at Fay and just wanted to turn into an ant and shy away.

"Are you sure?" he asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes." She squeaked, and instantly regretted it.

"I'm not dumb Hikari-chan." And she blushed, her face turning red, as well as her neck, putting her hair to shame.

"I'm fine." She pinched herself, she just had to sound like a fangirl who just saw a god. Fay chuckled.

"Don't tell me you've become Sasuke-sama's fangirl by just looking at him." Her eyes suddenly darkened.

"I am not a fangirl." She said, outraged. She wasn't a fan girl, it just so happened that the man at the counter with the god-like looks was someone she knew and had a history with.

"Then why are you like that?" she blushed again.

"I-It's personal." He tilted his head, an amused smile still on his lips, and shrugged.

"If you say so." he didn't even try to hide his amusement. "Do you want to go upstairs?" she nodded quickly.

"Yes, please." He chuckled again and told her to go 'home', and she all but ran upstairs, her heart still beating wildly.

* * *

He raised a brow as saw came back to the bar looking very much amused, but didn't ask anything.

"I think you have a new fangirl Kami-sama." He narrowed his eyes, Fay had taken the bad habit to mockingly call him kami-sama from Deidara, but for how hard he tried to repress that habit from them, they just used it more, so he tried to ignore, but he couldn't completely.

"I'm not Kami." He muttered, and Fay chuckled. "And what do you mean fangirl?" most women and girls in Rain didn't pay attention to him, because he had made it clear that he did not want a fangirl, and if one was founded, he would expel everyone in the club from Rain. It had worked, he didn't have fangirls, well, he did have some, but they didn't stalk him or pursued him in the streets, they kept their distance, fangirling him from afar. Pathetic.

"A friend." And Fay didn't say anything else. Sasuke shrugged, he didn't care about fangirls, he never had cared.

* * *

She paced in her room, trying to calm down, but the more she paced, the more she saw him, and the more she saw him, the more her heart beat faster.

"Damn it." her voice was too high pitched for her likings, she wasn't his fangirl anymore damn it. that was 10 years ago, she had gotten over it, so why was she so… hyper about the situation?? And how was she supposed to confront him if just by seeing him she was like this?

"Damn it." now she sounded desperate and ready to cry, why couldn't she just be strong, walk up too him and give him a piece of her mind with a chakra infused fist??

"Damn it." she seemed to be cursing a lot, and she usually didn't, at least she hadn't cursed so much in the last 4 years.

Fighting the urge to break something she took clean underwear (after focussing enough for her hands to stop trembling so she could properly take the clothing in her hands), and also took her new pajamas, that consisted of baby blue short shorts and a matching spaghetti strap top.

She hurried to the bathroom, _"I look like I took drugs."_ And then locked the door. Stripping her clothes quickly and then hoping in the shower.

She opened the taps and let the warm water run over her naked body. Closing her eyes, she focussed only on the feeling of the water, but her mind had to betray her.

Out of nowhere, her mind started replaying events from 4 years ago, and she couldn't help but moan as she remembered _his_ hands tracing her curves, caressing every inch of her skin, his lips on her neck, sucking, licking and nibbling, leaving small red mark that would only come off a week later. A strangled moan left her mouth, she could still _feel_ his hands on her skin, the way her skin burned wherever his fingers touched.

She opened her eyes and shook her head, trying to get rid of those memories, but it failed miserably.

_She looked at him to see his infamous smirk._

"_Mou." She whined, he just started to walk in the water while his lips tasted hers, his hands roaming around her body. As her back hit a flat cold rock gently she whimpered softly. His lips moved from hers to her neck, biting and sucking gently here and there leaving small red marks so she would have a reminder. His hands settled on her breast…_

She screamed in frustration, why did she have to remember all of that now? She should be worrying about her twins, not about what happened 4 years ago in the middle of the desert.

_He lay her down in the sand, kissing her all over while she moaned and took his shirt off._

She shook her head continuously, she had to stop remembering, if she didn't she was gonna go crazy, and she wouldn't be able to stand up to him and get her angels back.

"Damn it, why is it so hard." Tears started streaming down her face as more memories hit her, all of them from that night.

The way his hair had felt as she had intertwined her fingers in it, the way his body eradiated warmth, the way he kissed her.

She let herself fall to the floor on her knees and cried, shaking her head and trying to forget that night for now, she couldn't start thinking about it or she would only get into an even more difficult situation.

"_Aishiteru Sasuke-kun." she whispered before closing her eyes and letting herself relax against his warmth. He stroked her air gently, lovingly, thinking she was asleep and answered back to what she had told him._

"_Me too." he whispered and then apologised. "Gomene." After then she fell asleep._

He had thought she was asleep, that she hadn't heard him, but she had, and that was making what he was doing even more painful, because she knew how he felt back then, and that had given her hope. But now everything was falling apart, and she had to confront him, but she couldn't confront him like she would have when they were genin, she had to… she couldn't be forgiving, she had to be harsh, break herself in order to break him, because he couldn't just do what he wanted without facing the consequences.

* * *

**The next day**

She poked her head to look inside the room. She sighed in relief when al she saw were Ryuuki and Kyuuki playing with Deidara, more specifically, playing with clay. Deidara was making a sculpture of the twins while the twins were doing some abstract art.

She took a few steps forward and then shivered.

"Going somewhere?" she gulped, he sounded pissed and annoyed. It was kinda understandable, since she _had _been avoiding him all day, and had told him she was going to tell Kai and Ryo that he had been good and friendly with the twins.

"N-no." she stuttered, and she could feel his smirk.

"Interesting." He mumbled and ran a finger over her spine, producing a shiver from her. "You're not afraid are you?" she shook her head almost violently.

"O-of c-course n-not." Damn it, why was she stuttering? She wasn't some weak pathetic fangirl, she was Akatsuki for kami's sake.

"You sure?" she gulped, feeling his breath on her ear.

"Yes." And why was her voice coming out so high pitched.

"So you're still telling Kai and Ryo?" she nodded.

"Yes." At least now her voice wasn't high pitched.

"Hn." He mumbled and snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her back against him, making her squeak.

Deidara and the twins seemed to be oblivious to their little show, or they were ignoring, and already knew.

"You're really gonna tell them?" he whispered in her ear, in such a soft tone that she knew meant danger coming from him.

"Yes." And her voice was high pitched again. Damn it.

"Hn." He mumbled again, and with his free hand made her turn her head to face him, their faces a mere inch apart.

"What would it take for you to keep your mouth shut?" she could swear he hadn't talked this much in months, he was usually the quiet, monosyllabic answers type, like Leader.

"Y-you can't bribe me." She tried to sound strong, but it came out lamely. He tilted his head.

"Yes I can." He smirked and her eyes widened in shock when his lips touched hers in a soft chaste kiss.

He leaned back and looked at her, a blush was starting to form on her cheeks, her eyes were still wide in shock and her mouth was now slightly opened.

"Jin?" she squeaked, and he answered her with a victorious smirk.

"Hn." And he walked away from her, leaving her there, frozen in place, confused, but having forgotten what she was going to tell Kai and Ryo. Was he good or what?

Deidara chuckled from where he was and glanced back, to see Kaorin still frozen in place, still confused with her eyes wide, and with her index finger over her lips, trying to understand just, exactly, what had happened.

"Ne, Dei-onii-chan." He looked at the twins. "Jin-nii-chan just tricked Kao-nee-chan to forget!!" the twins giggled, and he chuckled, for two 4 year olds, they sure were perceptive and smart.

* * *

**The next day**

"Well, damn, he sure is doing well." The blue haired 23 year old mumbled as the group entered the Rain city, going from rooftop to rooftop to the Akatsuki building.

"He's the best thing that happened to Rain." Ryo said coolly. "He would be a kick-ass Kage, I can assure you that!" Ryo grinned, while the shark man chuckled.

"If I'd known I'd have stayed with him." Suigetsu grinned. "Who knows if I wouldn't be Akatsuki right now, living well!"

"Yo kid, don't dream too high." The blue haired man looked at Kisame with a questioning look.

"If he wanted you to be Akatsuki, you would be." Suigetsu snorted.

"Whatever, dude, I know him better than you do." Ryo chuckled.

"Relaw you two, I can't just report two injured men, Leader'd kill me." Ryo spoke coolly, as if he had no problems whatsoever.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Suigetsu muttered, while Kisame just stayed quiet.

* * *

"Stop glaring already." Deidara muttered to the blond and blue eyes younger version of Leader. Sometimes it freaked him out to see just how much they were alike, Sasuke and Jin that is.

"Leader told us to stay here." He rolled his own blue eyes.

"Look, if you wanna come, be my guest, if you don't just stay here and leave me alone." Seriously, did the kid really have to be so serious? He huffed and walked to the balcony, then jumping to the rooftops, his destination, his best friends' house.

He knew Jin was following him, so he decided to move side by side with him.

"Why did you kiss kao-chan anyway? She was pretty confused." The teen shrugged, and that only spiked his curiosity further. The fun thing to do with Jin was mess around with his emotions, his reactions were fun to watch, even if he sometimes got burned or electrocuted in the end.

"Were you toying with her?" Jin glanced at him, but said nothing. "Cause if you were, Leader and Kai won't be happy." The teen snorted and shifted. Oh yeah, this was fun.

"They have nothing to do with this." He distanced himself unnoticeably, he didn't like being burned and/or electrocuted.

"Then you like her, hn?" he mentally laughed with Jin's reaction.

"Not of your business." He spoke coldly, but the fun thing was, he blushed a soft shade of pink.

He dropped the subject, not wanting to push the teen into beating the hell outta him, that was his job, and the receiving end was Tobi. But this little information was very interesting.

He landed on Fay's balcony and looked around, the windows were closed, probably because of the rain, even if it was light, and he couldn't feel his best friend's chakra in the house, only the pink haired woman's'.

He shrugged and opened the balcony window, then taking off his shoes, so he wouldn't turn the white carpets dirty and made himself at home. Jin followed suit, also taking his shoes off.

The both of them walked to the entrance and put their shoes there, then he followed the nice aroma of cooking.

He poked his head in the kitchen and saw Sakura cooking something, she also had something in the oven. Jin just stood behind the older man with a raised brow, but Deidara ignored the teen.

"Ne what are you cooking Kari-chan?" he liked giving people nicknames, it was more fun.

He watched in amusement as she jumped, turned around with a kunai in hand and put herself in a fighting stance.

"D-Deidara." She stuttered, but still stayed alert.

"Hey." He walked into the kitchen and raised his hands over his head. "You can put that away, I came to see the Dobe, but since he's not around, I'll stick around 'till he gets here." She relaxed and glared.

"Stop sneaking up on me like that." He grinned and walked closer to her, peeking to see what she was doing.

"So, what'cha doing, yeah?" she rolled her eyes.

"Is the only thing you think about food?" he shrugged.

"No, I also care about art and 2 cute small gaki." He replied and his eyes twinkled when he saw what she was preparing, strawberry cream.

She eyed him suspiciously and then looked at the bowl where she had the cream for her cake. She looked back at Deidara, and just as he was about to put his finger in the cream, she took the bowl and took a few steps back.

"I had a lot of work doing this, and it's supposed to be put over the cake in the oven." She scolded, and he pouted.

"Just a little bit?" he whined. "Please?" he whimpered and did the puppy dog eyes.

"Drop the act, I'm immune to puppy dog eyes." And she was, because Naruto was always using it on her, so, after seeing he puppy dog eyes over the years, she had become immune, at least when the person who did them was blond and had blue eyes, which Naruto and Deidara seemed to have.

"You're no fun." He whined, ad she found herself giggling, like she would with Naruto in the old days. Now that she though about it, he wasn't being hostile towards her like she had predicted, on the contrary, he was acting friendly.

"Don't be so childish, you're supposed to be Akatsuki." She scolded him again, and he glared, indigenised.

"Let me remind you that I was _**forced**_ to join, I had no other choice, it was either join or die, and since I very much liked to be alive, I joined." He shot back loudly, like Naruto would do.

"So? you're still and S-rank criminal who blows stuff up." She countered, and they were suddenly glaring at each other.

"It's not _stuff_, it's clay. And it's _**art**_." They were now less than a feet apart, their faces close, almost yelling at each other.

"Well, excuuuuse me for not considering blowing things up art." He glared harder.

"It's art, because it's a fleeting moment of perfection."

"Your concept of art sucks." She actually didn't mean it, but she had to say something, she hated loosing.

"It does not." He sounded outraged.

"It does so, and what's with the mouths in your hands?"  
"It's a kekkai genkai, something you don't have. The only thing you'll ever have is ugly hair and huge forehead." And he didn't mean those insults, but he hated loosing.

They were about to keep arguing when someone spoke.

"The cake is burning." She squeaked and checked on her cake, and effectively, it was starting to burn.

"This is so your fault." Deidara snorted.

She took the cake out of the oven and put the metallic container in the granite counter, then taking a plate and putting the cake in it so it would cool down.

When she turned around, she was startled when she saw Sasuke, only it wasn't Sasuke. the male was younger and had blond hair and blue eyes, and a red triangle mark on his right cheek.

She looked at Deidara with a questioning look, and he huffed.

"The grumpy teen near the door's Jin." She nodded.

"I'm Hikari." The teen nodded, and she had to contain herself not to sweat drop, just like Sasuke.

She watched as the teen cast a look at Deidara, his fingers twitching with small electric rays. Now that was freaky, not only did he look like Sasuke, he could also manipulate lightening.

"I believe you are my next sparing partner Deidara-_senpai_." The boy said with a mischievous smirk.

"Holy shit." The 2 males looked at her, Deidara with an amused look, Jin with a raised brow. She laughed nervously and beckoned Deidara to come closer.

"Sorry." And when Deidara was close enough, she put an arm over his shoulder and made them turn around, so their backs were facing Jin.

"What is he? Sasuke's clone?" she whispered so only Deidara could hear.

"I know, it freaks me out too." He whispered back.

They suddenly looked at each other and instantly backed away, they were supposed to be enemies.

Jin raised a brow, Deidara was acting stranger than usual, and this woman, she was, weird.

"Aren't we…?" Sakura let the question unfinished, but the blond artist understood.

"Yeah, we are."

"Then…?"

"I dunno." They kept staring at each other, until laughing was heard. They snaped their heads to the door, and the bones in their necks cracked.

"What?" they 2 of them all but yelled.

"You 2 are hilarious." And Fay was home, laughing his ass off at their account.

"Shut up." They, once again, spoke at the same time. They stared at each other again.

"Stop copying me." And again. "Damn it." and they were back at glaring at each other.

"Baka."

"Yarou." They spoke at the same time again, Deidara calling her an idiot, and Sakura calling him an bastard.

"Ok kids, break it up before my kitchen turns into a battle field." They kept glaring at each other for a few more seconds, until they both huffed, crossed their arms over their chest and turned their backs to each other.

Jin raised a brow at their behaviour, it wasn't normal, but recently, nothing was normal.

As for Fay, he rolled his eyes and was glad they hadn't gone to the stage of aggressing each other.

* * *

"Like, dude, I don't get it." Sasuke rolled his eyes,a habit he had caught when he was around Suigetsu.

"You're the Leader of Akatsuki, and you don't take advantage of it." another sigh.

"Shut up." Suigetsu rolled his eyes, but shut up nonetheless.

"I was wondering Leader, how did you put up with him for so long?" tht was Ryo, calm and composed, as if he didn't have a care in the world. And he had to contain the urge to massage his temples, because hell, he hated it when he had to talk about unnecessary things.

"My genin team." He muttered, and Ryo grinned.

"You mean the obnoxious Rukodaime Hokage right?" and the annoyed glare on Sasuke's face told the nin what he needed to know.

"Anyway Sasuke-sama, I'll be downstairs." And with that the amused nin left the office.

* * *

The kitchen was silent, and he was getting annoyed by it, he wasn't used to have his best friend so quiet.

Deidara was sitting at the table, eyeing all of the pink haired lady's movements, while this one was taking care of spreading the strawberry cream over the cake. As for Jin, he was sitting in another chair, while he was leaning against the door frame. He sighed, it was weird.

Sakura finished covering her cake with the cream and looked at the bowl, where some cream was still left. She looked over her shoulder to see Deidara eyes the bowl, a certain twinkle in his eyes, like Naruto with ramen.

She stiflly grabbed the bowl and turned around, taking a few steps forward, she extended the bowl to him.

"It's just because there's some left." He nodded.

"It's not like we're…" he trailed off.

"We're not, we're…" she trailed off.

"That." There was a pause.

"Right." They both said. He took the bowl and she walked to the back to the counter, where she had put the red strawberry's that she would cut to decorate her cake.

Fay and Jin exchanged a look, and then looked back at the scene in front of them. Sakura had a strawberry in hand and was cutting it stiffly, while Deidara was licking the spoon covered with cream slowly.

"What's wrong with them?" Fay muttered, they hadn't acted so strangely last time.

As Deidara licked the sweet cream, he was debating whether to thank her, or say nothing. They were supposed to be enemies, not that anyone knew, but they had just been acting like friends, and it was confusing him. Unknown to him, she was having the same inner debate.

And once again, they acted at the same time. She turned around the same time he got up. There was an awkward pause, and then both decided that the past was the past, and that if they could be friends they would be. But neither knew what to say to the other to transmit the message. And being the childish person he was, Deidara did something that communicated exactly what he was tryong to say, because an enemy would never do that.

He put the spoon on the bowl, covering it in cream, and then he reached the spoon forward, putting cream over her cheak, a grin making its way to his face.

Her eyes darkened.

"What was that for?" his grin grew wider.

"I'm an Akatsuki, what'cha gonna do about it?" and it took all his expertise to evade her chakra infused fist, that would have connected to his face, and he was sure it would have been worse than the burs Jin caused him.

"Yarou, come back here so I can pummel you." She screamed as he ran out of the kitchen, and she ran after him.

"Try and catchg me, Baka!" he grinned back at her, poking his tongue out at her.

Fay sighed.

"Please don't break anything." He mumbled in frustration. Jin just kept sitting, an amused smirk in place, and he shifted so he was facing the hallway, having a free show of someone beating Deidara wassomething he wouldn't mind seeing.

* * *

**So?? what did you all think??**

**I hope you enjoyed!!**

**I have a somehow important question to make: Is my story getting better than when it started? Is it getting lame? Good? Please tell, me, knowing your opinions helps me improve, so in the future I can do better!!**

**What did everyone think about Deidara and Sakura?? And what about Jin and Kaorin?? The last 2 have a purpose of being like that, but I'll explain later on!!**

**Hope you all enjoyed, and I'll be updating as soon as I can, school's a bitch and I also have a lot of work to do, plus doing the next chapter of The Longest Year Ever, and I was having these ideas for a new fic, but that's gonna require some thinking, and I still have to revise Collecting the Broken Pieces.**

**Anyway, until next time!!**

**Love you all, Kaori-chan!!**

**P.S.- Isn't that little purple square with a 'GO' on it calling for you?? I know you all want to click it, so don't be shy and give me lots and lots of reviews to make me happy!! Please?? Pretty please?? With a cherry on top?? What about puppy dog eyes??**


	13. Chapter 13

**Konichiwa my dear readers! I'm extremely sorry for the late update, but i've had a lot of work for school, and just to make things worse, i've been having this annoying author's block...**

**biut anyway, i finished this chapter after having some good ideas in my dreams, hope you like it!**

**As one of my reviewers asked, i put more moments with the twins, and some more action!**

**Disclaimer: i do not own Naruto nor any other anime, i just own the ideas!**

**Please review at the end!**

**Chapter 13**

Ryuuki got up and walked to the door, tiptoeing, he opened said door and peeked into the hallway. It was dark and empty, like a hallway probably was at night.

He looked back at the bed to see his twin snuggled under the covers, only a small lump visible. Looking back at the hallway he walked out of the room.

He walked down the hallway for a while, and then peeked into a room where some faint light could be seen. Sasu-nii-chan was there, sitting on the windowsill, a small lamp in the table next to him, a book in one hand, his other hand busy writing something.

The small boy frowned, why couldn't the grown-up just admit he was sad? Everyone could see it, well… he could, at least.

He slowly slid into the room without being noticed, he was really good at sneaking around and being unnoticed, that's why he was usually quiet, because that way he could 'disappear' without being noticed, but anyway, back to the matter at hand.

He walked closer to the eerie man and then just stood looking at him, trying to come up with a plan of attack.

"You should be sleeping." Ryuuki blinked, he thought he had been doing a good work at not being noticed, ah man.

Sasu-nii-chan turned to him with a blank look, and he suddenly just wished he had stayed in his room, because the man had something that could make anyone uncomfortable, maybe it was his eyes.

"I… um… well…" he mumbled, and then shut up and looked up from his feet when he heard a chuckle, an amused one. Blinking, he stared at the man, so he could laugh, or chuckle, at least.

"Go back to bed." He crossed his arms in front of himself and frowned, he didn't like others ordering him around, kaa-chan told him he got that from his father.

"I don't wanna." He mumbled under his breath and kicked the floor lightly.

Sasuke eyed the boy curiously, he could have sworn that it would have been the girl to have these attitudes, not the boy, seems he was wrong.

"Go back to bed." He repeated, and the boy huffed, turned his head away and stomped his foot. He smirked in amusement, somehow, it reminded him of when he was a kid and his brother told him to go back to bed when he didn't want to.

He put his book and pencil down on the windowsill and got up, then squatting down to the boys' level.

"Go back to bed." He repeated, and the boy faced him with a stubborn look.

"I don't wanna, besides, you're still up too." The small boy mumbled the last part under his breath, but he still caught it. Interesting.

The boy let out a small yelp as he grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder.

"Small gaki like you should sleep when they're told." And he never thought he'd say something his brother had told him so many times to someone else.

"But I don't wanna go to bed." The boy whined, and he let the boy slip forward so he had him in his arms. "Kaa-chan let's me stay up when I want to." He raised a brow at the boy, that was clearly a lie, he could tell.

"I doubt it." the boy glared at him with a pout, which made him remember Naruto, but not quite. He chuckled again.

"I hate you." The boy suddenly said, and he once again raised a brow.

"So? Should I care?" the boy turned away from him and crossed his arms.

"I like Dei-nii-chan better than you." The boy mumbled under his breath, and once again, it sounded like something Naruto would do.

"You've been hanging around the dobe too much." He mumbled and the boy glanced at him.

"Naruto-nii-chan isn't a dobe." He rolled his eyes, only a kid, or Hinata, wouldn't consider Naruto a dobe, but he could understand, Hinata loved him (how, he never knew) and since he acted like a kid, he could be considered cool among kids, somehow.

There was silence as they… he walked down the hallway with the k- Ryuuki in his arms. And then suddenly, Ryuuki turned to him with a serious look.

"Ne, Sasu-nii-chan, why don't you want to admit you're sad?" he stared at the 4 year old and slowed down his pace, again with that?

"I'm not sad." The boy frowned.

"Yes you are, and it's alright, kaa-chan gets sad too, and she said that it's not a bad thing to be sad."

"I'm not sad." He looked at the boy with an annoyed look and Ryuuki looked down mumbling a sorry.

He finally reached the room where the twins slept and got inside putting Ryuuki down.

"Go to sleep." The boy nodded silently and walked to the bed, and then he climbed on it and disappeared under the covers forming a second small lump on the bed. He stayed there a few seconds to check that Ryuuki didn't get out of bed again, and then got out closing the door behind him, to then walk back to his office to finish doing what he had been doing.

* * *

He looked at the plate in the centre of the table where one last home made cookie with chocolate bits lay, begging to be taken, begging to join its fellow cookies that had already been eaten.

His eyes scanned the table further, there were half empty mugs with warm chocolate milk, steam coming out of them.

He sighed, today was one of those crappy days where if you went outside you'd freeze to death with the ice cold wind, the hard pouring rain and the dark grey clouds hiding the sun, and it so just happened he had a visitor, said visitor was sitting on a chair, eyeing the cookie, and opposite of his visitor, his guest sat on a chair, eyeing the last cookie as well. Another sigh, they looked like kids.

Deidara sat on a chair, and opposite to him sat Sakura, both eyeing the last cookie, that had been what she had done for tea time.

They looked up again, now staring at each other, and their staring contest soon turned into a glaring one.

"A gentleman would give the last cookie to the lady." Sakura said innocently, but still glaring at him. Deidara snorted.

"Tell me when you see one." Her eye twitched and her hands clenched. "Besides, the person with more power always gets the cookie." She raised a fine brow at him.

"Tell me when you see someone like that." His fingers twitched.

Fay sighed, they had become silent and were now glaring at each other, again and still. Their hands were slowly inching closer to the plate, and he honestly hoped they would solve their little _problem_ (if you could even call it that) without resorting to violence.

"It's mine." They both shouted, making him lightly jump in his chair in surprise, he hadn't been ready for that, neither that they would both launch themselves into the table and start wrestling for the cookie.

He closed his eyes and counted to ten, telling himself that when he opened his eyes they would all be having a civilized afternoon, with no childishness about a cookie, which could easily be shared.

He opened his eyes slowly and had to fight the urge to rub his temples, Deidara had Hikari (he doesn't know her name's Sakura yet) in a headlock and was trying to take the cookie from her, while the girl had one of her arms outstretched, the cookie in her hand, evading Deidara's hand. Her other hand was at his neck, partially strangling him.

"Give it to me damn it, hn." Deidara hissed, to which she snorted.

"It's mine, and I'm not giving it to you." She taunted, and he was seriously getting annoyed, his best friend wasn't so childish, not with other people at least, and certainly not with girl. The only exception was Tobi, but it was never like this, as if he was 6 again.

"Will you two stop it already and share the stupid cookie?" he almost yelled, and the couple looked at him, stopping their wrestling. There was silence, and then they spoke together.

"NEVER." And the wrestling continued.

"Oh Kami-sama, give me patience." He mumbled while rubbing his temples, and leaned on the table, taking a sip from his warm chocolate, what had he done to deserve this?

* * *

The twins shared a look and walked closer to the girl lying on the couch, curled into a ball, a distant look in her eyes.

"Kao-nee-chan." Kyuuki called and tugged on the girl's sleeve, only to get no response.

"Kao-nee-chan." She called again and tugged harder. "What's wrong?" Kaorin blinked and then stared at the small girl.

"Kao-nee-chan, what's wrong?" Kyuuki repeated, knowing she had the older girl's attention. Ryuuki watched from behind his twin, being as curious as her, but preferring to be on the background than to be in the front lines, or so to speak.

"I'm fine." The twins shared a look, and then looked back at the teen.

"That's not true, you usually play with us." Kyuuki started.

"When Dei-nii-chan isn't here, but you've been there all morning." Ryuuki finished.

Kaorin looked away from the twins, why did they have to be so smart? She just wanted to be alone, she had to think… a lot.

"Is it because of Jin-nii-chan?" she snapped her eyes to the usually quiet boy who had been the one to speak. She blinked when the boy simply stared at her with a serious look. For a moment, she though she was seeing Sasuke.

"…" she tried to answer the boy with a no, but she would be lying, and somehow, she couldn't lie to them.

"So, what did Jin do to make you like that?" she sat up abruptly and stared at the door, where Ryo stood leaning against the frame.

"Nothing." She answered too quickly. Ryo raised a brow at her, his purple/grey eyes examining her. After a few seconds he looked down at the twins, who were looking up at him with wondering eyes.

"I'm Ryo." The twins nodded slowly and he walked closer to them. "And you?"

"I'm Kyuuki."

"And I'm Ryuuki." The twins answered and he smiled, to then squat down at their level.

"Can any of you tell me what Jin did to Kao-chan?" he tilted his head lightly and watched as the twins shared a look and looked back at Kaorin, who shook her head with a pained expression on her face.

"Jin-nii-chan kissed Kao-nee-chan so she would forget." He stared at the small boy who had answered his question quietly.

"Oh, is that so." he looked up at Kaorin to see her blushing madly, her head bent down. And from what he could see, she was at the verge of tears. Stupid Jin.

He patted the twins heads and smiled.

"Thanks for the intel." They nodded and grinned, he guessed they liked him. "Could you two do me a favour and let me talk to Kao-chan alone?" the twins shared a look and nodded slowly.

"But we're bored Ryo-nii-chan." Kyuuki whined. He tilted his head.

"Then I'm gonna give you a mission." From what he had heard Deidara say, the twins liked everything related to Shinobi. And they sure looked excited. Their eyes were wide and curious, shinning in anticipation. "With as much stealth as you can, find Jin and follow him around, but don't tell him it's a mission if he finds out ok?" the twins nodded excitedly.

"Hai Ryo-nii-chan!" and they were running out of the room in excitement.

He looked back to Kaorin, and he made a mental note to tell Kai about this so they could beat the crap outta Jin. He got up and the sat down next to the girl.

"Wanna talk about it?" she looked up at him and shook her head slowly, her eyes shinning with unshed tears. With a sigh he wrapped his arms around her frame and pulled her closer.

"Then I'm not here." She nodded and buried her face in his chest while her hands fisted themselves on his shirt. Seconds later she was crying silently, low sobs could be heard, and he made a mental note to ask Deidara and Kisame to help him and Kai beat the hell outta Jin for this.

* * *

He glared at her from the couch he was sulking on, she'd eaten _his _cookie, when he had been the one to want it first. Her stupid superhuman strength was the cause, because for how good of a ninja he was, if he didn't want to blow up his best friends' apartment, he had no way to counter her stupid strength.

"Stupid Sakura, hn." He mumbled under his breath and kept glaring at her.

"Did you say something Deidara-_kun_?" she asked so sweetly that it made him sick, adding the –_kun_ just to emphasise the fact that she had heard him and wasn't happy about it. He didn't say anything and kept glaring at her.

"Gee, at least answer." She muttered, and his glare intensified, if that was humanly possible.

"You ate _my_ cookie, hn." He mumbled under his breath, like a kid would do. She raised a brow in indifference.

"I didn't see your name on it when I ate it." he sniffed and slumped further into the couch.

"You're mean, yeah." She, once again, raised a brow at him.

"Look at me caring about what you think." And to emphasise her point she took her cup of tea and took a sip, ignoring him completely.

"Baka." He muttered under his breath, and she raised a brow at him, taunting him. "I wanted the cookie first." She put her cup down on the small table and got up.

"So?" he pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them, hiding the lower part of his face behind them.

"I bet you're a lousy mom." Her eyes narrowed at his comment and she walked closer, stopping in front of him.

"Like a pyromaniac can have an opinion about it." he sniffed.

"I'm not a pyromaniac, I just like explosions, and let me remind you, I had a mother too." She rolled her eyes.

"I bet you were an orphan, abandoned because you had those _things_ in your hands." And she didn't have time to react, because the next seconds, she was in the air, his hand around her neck holding her up. He didn't look at her, letting his eyes face the wooden floor and his bangs shield his face.

"Don't _ever_ talk about my mother." She stared at him in shock, suddenly so very much scared for her life, because it was as if he was a completely different person, and when he looked up, even his eyes looked different, instead of being a nice sky blue, they were silver blue, almost white, and the look in his eyes frightened her.

"_Ever_, got it?" she nodded, not managing to speak due to the pressure in her throat, but she was frozen in place. Right now, she was realizing why he was Akatsuki, and just how dangerous he could be, because until now she had seen him harmless because he acted like a kid, but now… now… he was frightening. And everything was starting to turn black and white, and her lungs were starting to burn, urgently needing oxygen.

"What the hell are you doing Deidara?" it was Fay, screaming at him best friend and rushing to stop him from killing someone.

"Stop it." the silver in his eyes told him she must have said or done something to make him snap, which was really hard to do.

"Deidara, snap out of it." he grabbed his wrist and pushed the blond away, straight back.

The pink haired woman fell on her knees, gasping for air and holding her throat, where the mark of Deidara's hand now stood.

"What's gotten into you?" the blond artist didn't say anything, but the dangerousness in him remained there, as well as the silver blue look.

He took a few steps forward, getting closer to his best friend, and glanced back, Hikari was still holding her throat, her body shaking, in fear, he supposed, he himself got afraid of his best friend when he got like this.

"Snap out of it." and his answer was a punch that made him stumble back.

"Don't get in the middle of it." Deidara hissed, and he sighed, so it had to be done huh? He looked back at his best friend and lunged forward, managing to land a punch on him too. And then they started fighting, and he was glad he didn't have many breakable things in his living room.

"Deidara, snap out of it." he evaded the kick coming towards his gut, but didn't manage to evade the punch that sent him flying backwards. He landed painfully on the low table with his back, making the glass table shatter under the impact.

She watched as they fought, not really watching, but when Fay landed on the low table and the glass shattered, she snapped out of her trance and remembered she was a talented kunoichi, and before Deidara managed to do any more damage to his best friend, she stepped in front of him and landed a hard blow on his stomach, followed by a soft touch, seemingly harmless, on his shoulder, that resulted in him falling to the floor, almost throwing up. He had been so busy with his fight that she had gone unnoticed and managed to touch him long enough as to cause him to be nauseous and cut of his main chakra points.

She watched as he coughed and clenched his fists, his head down. She looked back to se Fay getting up. Both males were bloody and battered, and she still had some trouble breathing.

"How'd you do that?" she looked back at Deidara, who was still coughing, and stayed quiet. It wasn't that she liked to see people suffering, on the contraire, but he deserved it.

"I'm a medic." She mumbled softly and folded one of her arms, holding her other elbow with her hand.

"Don't…" the blond coughed some more. "…_ever_… talk…" he took a deep breath. "… about my mother." Fay looked at her and then at the coughing nin.

"So that's why…" he mumbled under his breath.

"I'm sorry." She whispered and kneeled down next to the blond. She reached her hand to touch him but he just slapped it away.

"Let m-" he didn't even let her finish.

"I don't need your help."

"But-" she shut up when he looked up at her.

"Leave me alone." She looked down and let her hand fall.

"I'm sorry." Fay watched them, not knowing what to do, but then again, when it concerned his best friend, he never knew what to do exactly.

"Stop being an idiot and let her heal you Teme." He slapped the back of Deidara's head, to which the artist looked up with a glare, but his paleness and the fact that he looked ready to throw up made it as intimidating as an old lady without any teeth.

"Dobe." Fay gave him a look and the nauseous blond sniffed.

"Fine." He looked at the female to his left and then sat up, fighting the urge to cough or worse, throw up.

"Do your thingy Haruno." Her hands reached up, and, somehow, she didn't even register the fact that he had called her by her family name.

"Breathe slowly." She instructed as she settled one of her green glowing hands over his upper torso and the other over his forehead.

* * *

He ran his eyes over the dinning table and raised a brow, it was like there were groups or something. In one side of the table were the twins, at the edge, then at their right were Kaorin and Kisame, and to their left were Deidara and Ryo, all of them close together.

Then on the other side of the table, the edge was for him, to the right was Jin and to the left was Suigetsu. It was as if the others wanted to be as far as possible from either Jin or Suigetsu. Something was going on, and he was in the dark about it.

He stood next to his seat, his eyes scanning the table once more.

"What's happening here?" he demanded. The twins looked up at him with innocent eyes, Ryo and Deidara looked away in stubbornness, Kisame shrugged, Suigetsu was clueless about everyone's behaviour and Jin was pissed, as for Kaorin, she just looked down.

He sighed and sat down, by the looks of it, he wasn't getting any answer soon, but still, he didn't like being left in the dark.

The atmosphere was tense while everyone ate dinner, even Deidara and the twins were quiet, which was suspicious and meant that the twins knew something, which someone probably told them to keep as a secret.

With further observation of everyone he concluded that Suigetsu had nothing to do with it, that Kisame just followed who he knew and trusted best, that Ryo and Deidara were protecting Kaorin and that Jin had done something to piss them off, probably something that had to do with Kaorin.

So, to avoid being left in the dark any longer, he went straight to the subject.

"Kaorin." He called, and without any suffix, it meant it was serious. The girl looked up and faced her Leader.

"What is it leader?" she asked, and her quiet and weak tone confirmed his suspicions.

"What did Jin do to you?" He saw Jin snapping his head towards him and glare, which didn't affect him in the least, and Kaorin just stared at him in shock, her face turning a deep red. The twins also looked at him, and then directed a glare at Jin. Kisame kept eating, only casting a glance at the other end of the table. As for Deidara and Ryo, they glanced at their Leader and then looked back at their meals, as if not to look at Jin, as if the teen was a monster.

"So?" he waited patiently for an answer and eyed everyone in the group.

"Jin-nii-chan made Kao-nee-chan sad." Kyuuki announced.

"And he didn't apologise." Ryuuki finished. And the twins seemed to be against Jin too.

He turned his gaze to the blond teen, demanding answer with only a look.

"I didn't do anything." Jin stated and resumed his meal. Coughs were heard from the other side, 'liar' was also heard between said coughs.

"Jin." He saw the teen drop his chopsticks and face him.

"Fine, I kissed her ok? It's no big deal." He got up abruptly. "I just did it to get what I wanted, which I did, period, she should just get over it." he glared at the teen, and then snapped his attention to the other end of the table, where a sob was heard.

"You seriously need some social classes." That was Kisame. The group of six got up, Ryo taking the twins by their hands, and Deidara and Kisame leading Kaorin away as if shielding her from Jin, who, by the way, was boiling, his fist clenched at his sides and his eyes cast downwards.

He sighed, just what he needed, a quarrel between everyone.

A few minutes passed and the only ones left on the dinning table were himself and Suigetsu.

"This isn't to piss ya off, but that kid looks like your fuckin' clone or something, looks and personality." He gave Suigetsu an annoyed look, to which the blue haired male raised his hands over his head.

"Hey, it's just what I think, maybe not now, but when you were with Hebi you were a lot like that, you did what you wanted without caring about the consequences, even if you hurt a lot of people, you didn't care."

Suigetsu's words echoed through his mind, and they were true, and unlike what Suigetsu thought, he was still like that.

But going back to the matter at hand, Jin would be having a mission that consisted in ending this little quarrel, especially because Kaorin was the central focus of said quarrel.

* * *

The blond looked down and tapped his fingers on the table. His face said that he was in deep thought, and the fact that he was so calm meant… it meant something bad would happen.

"Let me see if I get it." he muttered and then looked up, his eyes settled in something akin to accusatory and pissed. "The Akatsuki, an organization that hasn't done anything for more than 5 years, decided to make a move now, when all the countries are at peace, and just like that, kidnap Sakura-chan's kids." He faced the 2 males at the end of the table. "Not to forget considering that the Leader of Akatsuki is now someone that we haven't heard of in around 7 years, Uchiha Sasuke, and that Sakura-chan when after him to get the twins back. Did I miss something?" Silence greeted him and he got up.

"You gotta be kidding me." He muttered and rubbed his temples. "Is there anything else I should know?" he faced the other 2 again. "Aliens? Intergalactic war? Conspiracy?"

"Don't be stupid." He crossed his arms in front of himself and raised a brow at them.

"Well, excuse me if I don't full out believe you 2, but it's just a weird theory." The red haired man rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"It's not a theory Naruto." The blond sighed and sat down again.

"Fine, it's not, but seriously, the Teme's the new Leader of Akatsuki?"

"Yes." He grinned and looked outside at the village.

"I knew he'd do something big someday."

"Care to come back to the matter at hand?" he rolled his eyes at Sai's annoyance.

"Yeah, but what would he want with the twins? It's just weird."

The room became silence, until a sigh was heard.

"We need a plan." 

* * *

**So? ow was it? Please do tell me your opinions, it really helps, especially because i don't have a lot of ideas right now... but no worries, it'll come, i won't let you down!**

**Please review, as always, and, isn't that little purple button with the 'Go' on it tempting you? So what are you waiting for?**

**Love you all, Kaori-chan!**

**P.S.- I was thinking about chaging my pen name to Tsukimi, what do you guys think?**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello my dear readers and reviewers!!**

**I'm so much very sorry about the updating so late... -hides behind desk- please don't hate me... please?**

**I've been overloaded with school work (which sucks because I want time to get new ideas and with all the work I can't) and then the plot bunnies abandoned me for a while and i had no ideas for this next chapter, but now I'm Back!! (with a capital B and all -insert sweatdrop-) and i'm having ideas!! (I'll give a big virtual cookie to who can give me a few plot bunnies in a cage so i can keed them near my bed to get new ideas!! lol XD)**

**Anyway, I'll stop rambling, because i'm sure that everyone cares more about the story than about me... (but you care about me right?... right??)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the wonderfull Manga belongs to Kishimoto-sama, praise him and his wonderfull mind!**

**Sakura's evolving as well as the other characters. I really enjoyed writting this chapter, and, as always, I apreciate your opinions, it helps me improve myself.**

**I hope everyone likes the 2 last scenes I wrote with Deidara and Sakura in it, I had a blast writting them!!**

**And then there are a couple of scenes in this chapter, to make them i followed a request to make more moments with the twins!!**

**One last thing, tell me what you think about the last scene i did, it's the one i revised the most to get it, not perfect, but as good as i could make it!!**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

She looked outside the window and sighed. Ever since _that_ day Deidara hadn't showed up, at all. It had been 1 week ago. She'd been in Rain for 6 weeks now, more or less, and ever since she and Deidara became, well, friends, he would stop by Fay's place almost everyday.

She was sorry, and she wanted to tell him that, but after she had healed him, he had just left, ignoring her and Fay completely and leaving. She'd watched him leave, blaming herself if he got sick for being out in a crappy day like it had been.

She regretted talking about his mother, but she'd only remembered what Fay had told her about him and Deidara when they were kids after she'd spoken.

"Stop blaming yourself." She turned around, away from the window, and smiled sadly.

"It's my fault." She spoke softly and started to walk away towards the hallway.

"Don't worry, he'll come when he'll get over it, he's not the hating type of person." She hugged herself and entered the hallway.

"Well, I deserve it anyway." What would Naruto think when she told him the truth? The truth she had kept away from him and everyone for all those year.

"Don't say that." The blond watched as she entered the kitchen and then glared out of the window. With a frustrated sigh he walked to the window and opened it.

"Will you just come in, let her apologise and then have another childish argument about a stupid cookie or whatever?" he scolded, but it fell on def ears as the blond artist merely kept leaning against the wall, his eyes looking at the gloomy grey sky.

Blue eyes narrowed at the stubborn gaki.

"Geez Deidara, I never knew you were like that." He turned his back to his best friend. "I wonder what Suzume would say if she knew you're acting like such an ass." He mumbled and closed the door, not even bothering to wait for a response from Deidara.

* * *

Purple/grey eyes watched as the girl everyone seemed to protect inside the organization sat on the floor, leaning against the couch, moulding some children's clay (like PlayDo) slowly, her eyes set on her hands. The bastard still hadn't apologised to her, and it pissed him off, because Kaorin and Jin were supposed to be best friends, yet there were times, like this, when Jin acted like an ass and hurt her.

The twins had spent the week around Kaorin, trying to cheer her up, drawing, moulding and whatnot for her. Kyuuki was currently drawing a picture and Ryuuki was moulding something.

His eyes glanced back and narrowed.

"If you're not apologising, then just leave." Although he spoke calmly, the menace of future pain was there.

"Hn." And he just had to answer that.

"Leave Jin." He stated and as the teen was about to enter the living room he extended his arm and prevented him from doing so.

"Leave." His eyes glanced at the teen and then settled on Kaorin, who was smiling lightly as Kyuuki gave her the drawing she had been doing.

"You're not my father." He turned around, pushing the teen on the process and raised a brow.

"No, I'm not, but I'm still older than you." He leaned against the door frame and stared at Jin. "Got a problem with that, go complain to Sasuke-sama, but I doubt you'll do that because you're the one at fault, and you know it." he saw Jin's blue eyes narrow, his jaw clenching and his fists being shoved in his pockets.

"Mind your own business Ryo." A smile made its way to his lips and Jin's eyes narrowed even more.

"Oh, but you see, this is my business, because Kaorin's my friends, and I'm just looking after her." His smiled became sickeningly sincere. "Leave." And the coldness in his voice made up to it. He knew how to be manipulative and cold, an ass if you'd like, when he wanted to, and to be an ass with Jin wasn't hard.

The teen glared and then turned around, walking down the hallway. Ryo shook his head.

"You should appreciate what you have dumbass."

* * *

"A messenger bird?" his companion looked just as surprised as him. Usually there weren't messenger birds sent to Rain, hell, Rain didn't _bond_ with the other countries, _at all._

"Seems like it." they approached the hawk carrying a scroll on his back and he reached for the scroll. The bird followed him with its eyes and then chirped lightly. His companion petted the birds head and said bird shifted and chirped contently.

"Seems to like you." He mumbled and turned the scroll in his hands.

"Yeah." He rolled his eyes, his companion just fell in love with the bird. Averting his eyes to the scroll he was surprised to find the Konoha and Suna stamp on it.

"Oi, Hiro, check this out." His brown haired companion averted his eyes from the bird to him.

"What is it Natsu?" he showed him the scroll. "Wow, Konoha _and_ Suna, I bet that ain't for us." He nodded.

"It's probably for Leader-sama." Hiro nodded and returned to the bird.

"Will you take it??" he looked at him, petting the hawk. "I wanna take care of him." He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah, I'm going."

* * *

Footsteps echoed through the hallways of the corridor as he walked towards the leader's office.

After walking for a few more seconds he reached the office, the door was open so he took the liberty to enter, knocking nonetheless, obviously.

"Leader-sama, I have a scr-" he looked around, but, surprisingly, there was no one. He scratched his head, it wasn't like Leader to not be in his office during work hours, unless he was out of town obviously. "Leader-sama?" he called out, maybe the man was around. He furrowed his brows when he heard child's giggles coming from the adjacent room of the office.

Slowly walking towards the (now that he looked at it properly) half opened door and discretely peeked in, and boy, was he not ready to see what he saw.

Leader (someone said to be cold and ruthless) was sitting in the carpeted floor cross-legged, a small girl (around 4) with long ebony hair sitting in between his legs and a boy with spiky raven hair (twins maybe?) sitting, also cross-legged, in front of him. Between the adult man and the small girl and the small boy was a Lego construction, that oddly resembled a city, being done.

But that wasn't what was strange (well, it was, but it wasn't the strangest thing of it), the really strange thing was that Sasuke, Leader-sama, was smiling, seemingly having _fun_, while the small girl giggled from time to time and the small boy kept adding Legos to the construction, while Sasuke did the same, that smile (boyish, almost _happy_) remained there. It was so very rare for Leader to smile, more rare than seeing snow in  
Suna.

"Ne, ne, Sasu-nii-chan, where do we build Naruto-nii-chan's house?" the small boy asked. It was clear that the boy was happy and excited.

"The Dobe's place…" the grown man leaned forward, inspecting the construction, and after a few seconds he pointed a building (a Lego one of course). "It used to be here." The girl looked up at him.

"How was it nii-chan?? Was it cool?" he scoffed.

"Are you kidding? His place was dump." The kids giggled and the adult smiled.

He watched his leader with a smile and then stepped away from the door silently, whatever was on the scroll could wait a few hours, even if it was urgent. He wasn't just about to interrupt when his leader looked so happy, happier than he had even seen him.

He walked down the hallway, a smile on his lips, he was happy for Sasuke-sama.

* * *

"Man I'm bored." Kisame looked at the young blond artist lying carelessly over the couch, one arm over his face, the other hanging from the couch, as was his left leg.

"Don't ya usually go out?" the blond huffed, but said nothing. "Fought with your boyfriend did ya?" the blond lifted his arm and looked at him with a blank stare.

"I'm straight, yeah." He let his arm cover his face again. "And it's none of your damn business." The shark-man shrugged and leaned back on the couch he was sitting.

"Whatever." He mumbled. After that there was silence.

A good 20 minutes passed before Kaorin came into the living room, she was still depressed. She walked slowly, purposely avoiding eye contact with Jin, who was sitting on the window-sill, and walked up to Deidara.

"Sempai." She called out softly, her hand tugging on his sleeve. He peeked from under his arm.

"Hm?" she fidgeted with the hem of her navy blue top, her eyes cast downwards.

"Ne, can we go out?" the blond lifted his arm from his face and raised a brow.

"Why?" she mumbled some incoherent words, but when she glanced at the blond at the window he understood. "Ok, sure." A small smile graced her lips.

"Thank you sempai." He shrugged and sat up.

"Wanna come Salmon-chan?" he grinned when the shark-man twitched at the nickname.

"Stop calling me that girly." This time the blond twitched.

"I am _not_ girly." He got up. "And if you wanna come, we're going." Kisame rolled his eyes and got up, following the blond artist outside.

They walked through the streets, not really watching where they were going, Kaorin seemed to be fine with it, she probably just wanted some fresh air, but then, as if to mock everyone, it started to rain.

"Let's go to Fay-san's house sempai." Kaorin had suggested, and after some persuading, Deidara had accepted, telling her to go on ahead.

"Before we go, whatever you see at his place, you can't tell anyone." Kisame raised a brow.

"Why not?" the blond glanced at him and then looked back at the road.

"Because Leader can't know, he'd kill me if he knew."

"In that case, fine." Kisame paused. "What am I gonna see exactly?" the blond shrugged and walked on ahead catching up with Kaorin.

"Something tells me I'm not gonna like it."

* * *

After everyone had taken their shoes off, Kisame had settled himself in a couch, Kaorin in another one, and Deidara had gone looking for his best friend, only to find him in his bar downstairs, getting everything ready to open after lunch.

"Hey." The blond twitched when Fay ignored him and kept working on putting the chairs on the floor.

"Why are you ignoring me?" Fay spared him a glance, but said nothing for a while.

"Suzume would've beat the crap outta you if she was here." He frowned, he didn't like talking about his sister.

"Why would she do that?" Fay faced him.

"For starters, you've been acting like an ass for the past week." He scoffed.

"It's her fault." He mumbled like a stubborn kid.

"She's been wanting to apologise to you the whole week dumbass." His best friend scolded, almost yelling at him, he just looked away. "Just let her apologise already, and it's your fault too." Fay walked up to him. "So just drop the cold unforgiving act, because we both know that you're dying to get her to cook something for you." He crossed his arms in front of himself, refusing to look at his best friend.

"Stop being an ass already, you've never been the holding grudges type." Fay walked past him, and while doing so hit the back of his head.

"She's in her room."

* * *

He could hear his best friend chatting with Kisame and Kaorin as he stood in front of Sakura's room (well, for now at least). He sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his hair, it was damn annoying to not want to be mad at her, she was supposed to be the enemy, so why wasn't he treating her like one?

"Damn it." he cursed under his breath and, after taking a deep breath, knocked softly (more softly then he'd intended) and then entered.

She was lying on the bed, a book in her hands and over her face (he wondered how she could read properly), and from the looks of it, she was pretty down.

Guilt washed over him, why he didn't knew, because hell, what was there to be guilty about? She had been the one to start it. Somehow his conclusion didn't sound right.

He stood there quiet, watching as she read and didn't notice (so maybe he barely touched the door while knocking, got a problem with it?) him. He had to do something, and as he stood there, ideas ran through his mind, the outcome of all of them being bad, but with the last one he had, he risked (she was probably get pissed and beat the crap outta him, but then again, they would be good again, kinda).

So, with all the stealth he had, he walked closer to her, and then with a boyish grin he climbed on the bed, crawling over her. His right hadn reached for her book and snatched it away from her, her first reaction was to glare.

"What th- Deidara?" she looked up at him, her glare changing to something between surprise and confusion. He tossed the book aside, and it landed perfectly on the bedside table, face down, opened in the page she had been reading.

"Whatcha so depressed about?" he tilted his head and his blond locks fell around them, creating a curtain.

"Ahn…" he grinned when she shifted, her look becoming one of discomfort too.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, her eyes looking into his. "About…" she trailed off and he smiled.

"You're forgiven." He lowered his face and kissed her cheek. "Somehow, I can't stay mad at you." She blinked when he reached his hand up and put a strand of her hair behind her ear, and then she smiled.

"Thank you." He shrugged.

"Don't thank me now." He grinned and she raised a brow suspiciously, somehow, she knew it couldn't be good.

"Why not?" he didn't say anything, but his eyes tinkled, while mentally he prepared himself for the beating she would give him after, he would be lucky if she didn't send him flying to the other end of Rain.

"Because." Was all he said before he lowered his face to hers… and kissed her. He watched as her eyes widened in shock, and somehow, it was amusing, because if there was something that the kiss wasn't, it was romantic.

She pushed him away, breaking the kiss, her eyes narrowing at him.

"What was that for?" she demanded, and he just couldn't help himself and laughed. "And what's so funny?" oh boy, she was pissed, really really pissed.

"You should've seen your face, it was priceless!!" he kept laughing and she shoved him off of the bed, making him fall on his butt on the floor. But that didn't stop his laughter.

"Stop laughing." She ordered, almost yelling, and, not to make matters worse, he stopped, holding his laughter in. He got up and looked at her, his boyish grin coming back to his face when he saw her glaring murderously at him.

"It wasn't that bad." Her face was flushed with anger as she got up and walked towards him, her steps heavy.

"Any last words?" she hissed and cracked her knuckles, to which he just couldn't resist.

"Don't hurt me too much." And when she was just in front of him he leaned down and kissed her again, this time deeper (they were just friends, but he had to say, she was a nice girl to kiss).

When he leaned back she was standing there shocked, but her expression changed to murderous quickly, so he slammed the door open and ran.

"Come back here bastard." She screamed and ran after his laughing persona.

* * *

There were noises, yells and laughing too as the trio in the living room shared looks.

"Ne, Fay-san, do you know what's happening?" Fay smirked.

"Yeah, Dei-chan getting a beating." He shook his head. "I wonder what he did to piss her off." Kisame raised a brow but said nothing.

"Get back here bastard." the pissed female screamed and seconds later Deidara landed on the corridor in front of the living room entrance. 3 sets of eyes settled on his laughing person.

"Aw, c'mon, it wasn't that bad." He tried to defend. But the next second his collar was being held as a female straddled him, her eyes glaring. "You wouldn't hurt me… would you?" her hold on his collar tightened.

"Why not?" she smirked when he gulped.

"Because… hm… because I'm pretty!" he finally exclaimed. She scoffed.

"Oh, please, haven't you got something better?" she smirked and he just stood there, biting his lower lip and getting ready for a beating.

"Guess not, any last words?" he tilted his head in thought and then leaned upwards, only to be pushed back down. He rolled his eyes, but spoke nonetheless.

"Don't tell Kami-sama." She raised a brow and was about to hit him with a chakra infused fist when Kisame spoke.

"What's happening here Deidara?" Both Deidara and Sakura turned to look into the living room, their mouths opened and then closed at the lack of words to say.

"What's wrong Kisame-senpai? Is something wrong?" Kaorin inquired as Kisame stood up abruptly, his eyes glaring at the blond artist.

"Deidara?" the shark-man looked frightening as he demanded answers.

"Hm… well… I told you, you couldn't tell anyone." The blond defended, and he honestly sounded a bit like a child. And as he finished speaking he felt someone else glaring at him, someone really close.

"Deidara-_kun_." She spoke softly and then got up, dragging him up with her. "Let's have a talk in the kitchen." She hissed dangerously sweetly. His eyes turned to the living room, desperately trying to find some help. He whimpered when he found none and was dragged into the kitchen by a pissed off pink haired lady.

"_What have I gotten myself into."_ He mentally kicked himself.

* * *

"Ne, Sasu-nii-chan, are you sure this is Konoha?" he looked down at the girl between his crossed legs, who was looking at him with those onyx eyes with the tints of dark emerald green.

"Aa." The girl turned to the Lego construction again and tilted her head, her brows furrowed.

"But, there's things missing." She whined. He noticed Ryuuki nodding.

"And there are things that aren't there." The boy spoke. He shrugged, it was only natural that the village changed after so many years.

"Things change with time." The twins nodded, mumbling chorused 'oh's, and, against his will, his lips curled up into a small smile.

He remembered this morning the twins coming to him and asking if he could play with them, and, after a few rather unnecessary comments from Deidara, he said yes. So now here he was, sitting on the floor of the adjacent room of his office making a replica of Konoha 10 years ago with the twins, Sakura's twins.

As he kept adding a few Legos to the 'village', Ryuuki doing the same, he wondered what the pink haired girl was doing (because, no matter what, she would always be a girl to him) and the moment he started thinking about her, guilt started washing over him, the weight of his sins leaning on his shoulders. He'd worked so hard to get where he was, he'd worked so hard for everything, and all of his work was for her, because she'd been the only one t-

"Nii-chan, are you ok?" he snapped from his thought when he felt light tugs on his sleeves, and when he looked around, the two small children were standing in front of him, looking at him in wonder and worry.

"You look sad." Kyuuki spoke and then looked at her brother, they shared a glance and then looked back at him. He raised a brow at the twins. "When mama's sad…" Kyuuki started.

"We hug her, and then she gets better!!" Ryuuki finished, and the moment he finished his sentence, the twins lunged at him and hugged him, small and warm arms wrapped around his necks as the 3 of them fell backwards from the impact.

"It's ok to be sad Sasu-nii-chan." Both twins spoke softly, and, somehow, it sounded right coming from them, because didn't the truth come from children?

He stared up at the ceiling, his eyes soft and a smile on his lips as his arms wrapped around the small kids, his heart clenching, this feeling of belonging overwhelming him (although he didn't know why).

"You're the best Sasu-nii-chan!!" he let a smirk curl at his lips when the small girl said those words, but his eyes softened and his smirk turned into a boyish grin when Ryuuki spoke.

"I like you best." The meaning behind those words being understood and appreciated, because the boy meant 'I like you better than I like Deidara', and if he wasn't so prideful, he'd rub it in Deidara's face to shut him up with his unnecessary coments.

For the first time in a long time, he felt h-

"Ne, nii-chan, do you like us?" he held the twins tighter against him and smiled a boyish smile (one of those that look childish and spoiled and at the same time innocent).

"Of course I do." He stated, and his boyish smile widened. "But don't tell anyone." He whispered and let himself enjoy the moment, hold the twins against him as if they were the solution to all his problems.

Now, if only Sakura was there too…

* * *

**I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!!**

**Please leave a coment telling me what you think, I can improve myself with your coments!! And i don't mind if there's rambling in it, I apreciate it!!**

**Big coments are my favourite, but small one are apreaciated in the same way!! And c'mon people, isna't that little button with the 'GO' in it just calling out so you leave a comment??**

**Anyway, I love you all very much!! **

**With a kiss and a plate of virtual cookies to each of you,**

**Kimi-chan!!**


	15. Chapter 15

**I'm really really sorry for the (so very much) late update... but it's always hell with school, and as the cherry on top I was having this huuuuuuugggggggeeeeeeee block where nothing came, not a single pathetic idea, which totally sucks because I love writting!**

**Anyway, I ask forgiveness, and I hope the chapter is good enough for my dear readers and reviewers to be able to forgive me... pretty please??**

**I'm not gonna ramble anymore, so enjoy!!**

**Disclaimer: I don not own Naruto, I own, however, the plot of the story!**

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Chapter 15

"Natsu. Oi, Natsu, you there?" he blinked a couple of times before shaking his head and grinning.

"Sorry Hiro." He mumbled, to which his friend rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"As I was about to ask before you blanked out, did you deliver the scroll?" he tilted his head, thinking about what the hell Hiro was talking about, until it clicked.

"Yeah, 'bout that." He mumbled. "Leader was in a meeting with someone so I decided to deliver it later." He just _knew_ he shouldn't talk about what he saw in the office between Leader and the cute kids.

"Oh, ok, but don't forget, it's gotta be important if there are the seals of Suna and Konoha in it." he nodded.

"I won't, don't worry." He looked at the brown haired. "Don't you have the bird to feed or something?"

* * *

"Ne, what's happening?" Her blue eyes looked around, trying to get answers from the males that were with her in the living room. "Fay-san? Kisame-sempai?" she looked from one to the other, but there were no answers, Fay was just relaxed, some confusion in his eyes, while Kisame was royally pissed. So, seeing as no one seemed to know or want to give her answers, she got up and walked out of the living room. Fay didn't say anything, and she knew Kisame was blind to what she did, being pissed with Deidara.

She slowly peeked into the kitchen, and as she saw what was there, she decided to look first and then enter.

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?" he looked from the hand holding his collar to her face. C'mon, he hadn't done something so bad as to get into her _to kill list_.

"Can you let go please?" her hand tightened on his collar and her glare hardened, if that was even possible. "Guess not." He mumbled, to witch her hand tightened even more.

"So?" she hissed, to which he sighed.

"Look, I couldn't just tell him 'hey, you have to stay 'cause you can't see who's in Fay's house'." He finally got tired of having his collar being held by her and freed himself, walking to the counter and leaning against it. "For starters I'd have to make up an excuse, which, by the way, I'm not very good at 'kay?" he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at her. "And secondly, it's your problem, not mine." She walked closer to him, a murderous look on his face.

"Excuse my misunderstanding, but I thought that since you're being friendly towards the _enemy_" she emphasised the enemy gesturing comas as she said it. "You're just as screwed as I am if he finds out." He tilted his head, it was true.

"But I, unlike you, have a way out." She crossed her hands in front of her and urged him to continue, just waiting for a screw-up from him to lunge at him. "I could always say that I was luring you into a trap." She glared at him.

"He's not dumb you idiot, he's a frickin' Uchiha." He frowned and observed all of her movements, readying himself to avoid an attack if one were to come.

"Now what do we do genius?" he took a hand from his pocket and scratched the back of his head.

"We can always bribe Kisame." And a grin settled on his face. "Sake should do." She looked at him with a disbelieving look.

"You gotta be kidding me, I'm sure an Akats-" he cut her off.

"We're people just like everyone in your village." And just as he was about to start walking to the living room Kaorin entered the kitchen.

"What's going on Senpai?" Deidara froze and glanced at the pink haired female, who was also frozen in place. Kaorin looked… pissed, which wasn't a good sign, since she was, well, one could say that she resembled the pink haired female in character.

"If you're not giving me an explanation I'm gonna go home to talk with Sasuke-sama." He noticed Sakura paling and slowly turning to the girl.

"If we tell you, will you keep it a secret?" he had a feeling that he should have stayed lazing off in his favourite couch instead of coming here.

* * *

They entered the village of Rain after a long trip, it hadn't been easy, having to calm the big guy they had been sent to get every 5/6 hours, and hell, it took a lot of strength to _tame_ him, per say.

The Rain was light, and the day wasn't dark, the clouds were white, letting some blue sky be seen.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble." Tobi bounced up and down next to Juugo.

"It's ok Juugo-san." Hana spoke from his other side. "I'm sure our efforts weren't in vain, Sasuke-sama only makes us do important things." The taller man smiled lightly and nodded.

"Yeah, because Leader-sama's the best, and Tobi likes doing the missions Leader-sama gives him, because they're always soooooooo cool, and it's even cooler when Deidara-senpai comes with- no when Tobi goes with Deidara senpai, because then Tobi gets to fly in Deidara-senpai's birds, and it's sooooo cool, because we see the trees from above, and they look like small ants and-"

"Shut up already idiot." Tobi stopped bouncing and gesturing while he spoke and looked down when Ruki (blond hair in a low pony tail and amber eyes) almost yelled, his tone cold and ruthless.

Hana frowned, sure, Tobi got a little carried away when talking, but that wasn't a reason to be mean.

"You shut up Ruki, you're the one with a stick shoved up your ass." Hana suppressed a giggle while Tobi giggled without caring, at Kai's comment. Kai was always the one who made everyone laugh, not liking rudeness and coldness. Ruki stopped and turned around to glare at the orange haired.

"Watch it." Kai shrugged, his hands crossed behind his head, while he looked ahead.

"Hana's the team leader, so don't act all superior when you're still a virgin." Tobi and Hana were laughing and Juugo was chuckling, seeing Ruki pissed while Kai said whatever he wanted to piss him off was fun.

"Don't blame you though, you look like a girl, but whatever." Ruki had his fists clenched as he tried to ignore Kai and kept walking.

"Kai-san is sooooooo cool because he sooooooo shut up Ruki-san." Kai looked over his shoulder and grinned, extending his hand and joining his knuckles with Tobi's.

"Anytime man!" Hana smiled, Kai was one of those guys that always stood up to his friends..

"Let's jus get home!" she said quietly, to which everyone, except Ruki who was ahead and ignoring them, nodded.

* * *

He walked through the hallway, the twins walking behind him obediently, and frowned, only 3 people were at the base, of which 1 wasn't even a member of the organization he ran. The one thought in his mind at the moment: _where the hell is everyone?_

He glanced over his shoulder to see Ryuuki, followed by Kyuuki, walking behind him, silent and obedient, and, even if they hadn't told him, hungry.

He turned left and started descending the stairs, he knew for a fact that Jin had no knowledge in the kitchen department, he could ask Ryo, but he was probably… well… doing stuff… and he would never, ever, ask Suigetsu, the guy would only start throwing unnecessary and uncalled comments. Ok, so he didn't feel like asking anyone, he just felt like cooking for the kids himself, got a problem with it?? No? Good.

After descending the stairs and walking down the hallway he reached the kitchen and turned to the twins, and before he could say anything, they did.

"Ne, Onii-chan." Kyuuki started.

"Are you cooking for us?" Ryuuki finished, and he had to use a big amount of his will not to let e smile appear on his face. It was annoying how he felt like smiling all the time when they were around. Concerning their question he just shrugged.

"What do you feel like eating?" he asked and leaned against the granite counter. The twins looked at each other, a grin appearing in their face, and then turned to him.

"We want ramen!!" they exclaimed, to which he frowned, they seriously spent too much time with the Dobes, namely Naruto and Deidara. He guessed blond hair must mean ramen-addicted.

"That's just unhealthy, choose something else." The twins lost their grin and looked up at him. There was silence for a while.

"Ne, is it because you don't know how to do it?" his eye twitched as he stared at the twins after they both spoke. Didn't know how to do ramen?? Didn't know how--?

"Choose something else." He grunted and walked to the fridge. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this way, but he just couldn't lie to himself, he _liked_ feeling like this, it was… it just was.

"But we like ramen." The twins whined, and he just opened the fridge, scanning it to see what was inside.

"No." the twins whined, but he paid it no heed as he kept looking over the contents of the fridge. "If you're not choosing something else, I will." He glanced at the twins to see them with puppy dog eyes and pouts, but he just turned back to the fridge and took a few things out to prepare some healthy food. Even if they were kids he just couldn't do and give everything they wanted.

"Onigiri, beef teriyaki and some tomato salad it is then." He announced and started getting everything he needed.

"But we want ramen." The twins whined. He glanced at them and then back at the wooden board where he was displaying the beef to cut it.

"You're not having ramen." He stated and reached for the drawer to his left, then taking out the knife he needed to cut the meat. "And I don't wanna hear any whining." He looked at the twins. "Got it?" they sniffed and were about to say something, but the look he gave them shut them up. They nodded in defeat and mumbled a low _'hai'_.

The dark haired man looked back at the wooden board and started to cut the beef, sometimes you just had to be stern.

* * *

Sakura was fidgeting the hem of her shirt, her feet twitching to move, but she controlled herself and stayed where she was.

"Can you not ask anything else please?" she glanced at the blond next to her, who was looking at the raven haired girl, who was sitting on a chair, a disbelieving and shocked look on her face.

There was silence, and Kaorin kept looking from Deidara to Sakura. After a while she composed herself and spoke.

"Why should I keep this a secret? It's not like you 2 gave me a lot of details about the situation." Sakura squeaked silently and looked down, her fingers tightening on the fabric of her shirt.

"Look, the less you know the best, ok?" Deidara glanced at the pink haired female and then sighed.

"No." Kaorin stated. "If you're not telling me what's really going on, I'm telling Sasuke-sama." The moment she finished Sakura spoke, her voice containing a bit of agony.

"Please don't." Kaorin crossed her arms and then looked straight at the woman. Sakura sighed.

"Fine, I'll tell you." Deidara turned towards her.

"Sak- Hikari." He exclaimed, to which she looked at him and shook her head.

"You can't tell anyone, ok?" Kaorin nodded.

"Let's start by your real name." the girl spared a look at Deidara and then looked back to the other female.

"My name's Haruno Sakura." Kaorin's eyes got wide and she got up abruptly.

"You mean… _the_ Haruno Sakura?" Sakura tilted her head lightly and nodded.

"But that's not the point here." Kaorin tilted her head and Sakura walked closer to her. Deidara watched as Sakura leaned to Kaorin's ear and whispered a few things, to which Kaorin stood frozen, shocked with the new information.

"Please don't tell him." Kaorin slowly sat down and looked the older female up and down. A few seconds later a grin broke into her face.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed. "And I won't tell him." Both Deidara and Sakura sighed in relief.

"And now let's bribe Kisame, yeah!!" Deidara chirped and walked to the hallway.

* * *

The twins sat quiet and silent around the kitchen table, watching as Sasuke finished cooking their dinner, which they'd rather be ramen. The pouts were still in their faces, and they had the same idea, they were not eating what they didn't want.

Sasuke took plates from a cabinet and then put it on the counter, then filling it with food, not exaggerating with how much he put in the 4 year olds plates.

He took the 2 plates and walked to the table, laying said plates in front of the twins and then putting the covers next to the plates, as well as a glass of water (sake wasn't something he'd give to children).

After that he went back to the counter and filled his own plate with what he had cooked, the tomatoes occupying a great amount of space. And mind you, he was a very good cook, he just didn't cook to anyone besides to himself.

He sat down at the table in front of the twins and joined his hands to thank for his food.

"Itadakimasu." He spoke quietly and then, before taking his covers to start eating, he looked at the twins.

"Either you eat that, or you're going straight to bed." His words were strong and firm. The twins looked away from him crossing their arms in front of themselves and _humpf_'ed. He raised a brow in amusement, he used to do the same thing when he was alone with his brother and the older boy didn't give him what he wanted to eat.

Summoning a bit more of patience he got up, not before taking a slice of tomato to his mouth, and then moved so he was sitting between the twins, munching the slice of tomato contently.

He looked from one to the other and decided to start with Ryuuki, the boy seemed easier to handle, the girl was more stubborn, like Sakura when she argued with Naruto. He took the small boy and sat him on his lap, the boy kept his pose, not looking at him and still pouting. He suppressed a chuckle and wrapped an arm around the boy, holding him so he couldn't move, while his free left hand took the chopsticks and took a piece of beef teriyaki in them, good thing he was ambidextrous.

He moved the chopsticks and then spoke so the boy would say something back and he had a chance to put the food in his mouth.

"You're acting like a girl Ryuuki." The boy turned the best he could with a glare (a childish one, but a glare nonetheless).

"Am no-" he didn't let the boy finish and shoved the food in his mouth.

"Eat." It wasn't a request, it was an order. The boy closed his mouth and looked away in stubbornness while slowly munching. He recalled that his brother did the same to him, and he always ended up eating.

Watching the boy attentively he smirked in victory and put the chopsticks in his smaller hand, he'd eat alone now.

He put Ryuuki on his chair and then turned to Kyuuki. He ran a hand through his hair while thinking of some sort of way to, let's say, convince her.

He took her into his lap, still not sure of what to do, and took her chopsticks. He glanced at Ryuuki, the boy was holding his chopsticks near his food, hesitating to eat.

"You have to eat." He told the girl, who just ignored him and looked away from him further. The girl just had to be stubborn. He raked his head to try to find something, anything to get Kyuuki to eat, but it wasn't easy, and the yummy and delicious looking tomatoes on his plate weren't helping.

Fuck, he was hungry.

* * *

Kisame looked at the 3 in front of him and raised a suspicious brow. They looked too buddy-buddy with each other to not be plotting something.  
"So? What do ya say?" he looked at the blond and crossed his arms in front of himself while leaning back on the couch.

"You 3 are acting suspicious." He mumbled. Kaorin laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head, further proving his point of something being fishy about those 3.

"Don't say nonsense sempai, there's nothing suspicious." He rolled his eyes and then looked at the previous Hokage's apprentice.

"Either you tell me what's happening or no deal." Te pink haired female looked down. "Even Itachi always told me what was going on." She looked up and sighed.

"Can't you just keep a secret senpai?" he looked at Kaorin and answered.

"No." his answer couldn't have been blunter.

"C'mon." Deidara drawled. "You said you would before we came here." He whined, and Kisame raised a brow at his childishness. The blond said he wasn't, but he was just as childish as Tobi, maybe not as rambling, but certainly as childish.

"That was before I saw her here." He glared at the blond, leaving much unsaid.

"Please senpai??" he looked at Kaorin and crossed one of his legs over the other, a brow raised and awaiting answers.

"No." he wasn't keeping his mouth shut to then get screwed by Sasuke, which, thank you very much, he'd rather not, he was very happy alive.

He watched as the pink haired girl, because to him she was a girl since he was older, walk closer to him, her head down and her arms wrapped around herself. Good thing Fay was already downstairs at the bar and not listening to everything that was going on, that would mean more trouble.

"Please don't tell anyone." She looked up, and he had expected some puppy-dog dog sad and despaired look. But she didn't wear one of those, her look was fierce, a bit fearful, but still fierce. "And I'll answer your questions." A grin tugged at his lips, his sharp teeth being revealed.

"Deal." Now he could keep his mouth shut.

* * *

His fingers tapped almost soundlessly on the table, his left eye twitching and his left arm being forced not to hold the small girl tighter. She was as stubborn as… he didn't even knew, and goddamit he was hungry, and his yummy looking food filled plate on the other side of the table wasn't helping.

"Kyuuki." He called out, to which the small girl stuck her nose in the air. Had it been Deidara in his place and not him he would have found the situation rather amusing, but since it was him he was finding the situation rather unnerving. He had tried everything he could remember, but nothing had worked. And the tomatoes in his plate—

"_Damn it Sasuke, get a hold of yourself."_ He let out a frustrated sigh, how, in all hell and hearth, did Deidara feed them when they didn't want the food in their plates?? At least Kyuuki, Ryuuki had been easy to convince, although the boy still wasn't eating, waiting for his sister.

"Kyuuki, you have to eat." He scolded, and hell, it was pissing him off that he was _loosing_ to a kid. _**Loosing**_ for Kami's sake (not him obviously or the twins would have already ate and he would be appreciating his nice, red, juicy tomatoes).

The girl sniffed and kept her pose. He closed his eyes trying not to act irrationally.

"_Calm down, count to 7 and take a deep breath."_ he tried to do just that but failed, snapping. He wanted to delight himself with his tomatoes and it wasn't just a small capricious brat that was going to deprive him of his favourite fruit. Not even when Hell froze over and the world turned upside-down.

His fist clenched, unclenched and then he turned the girl forcibly on his lap, his sharingan blazing unconsciously (it activated when he got pissed) as he glared at her.

"You will eat." He hissed trough clenched teeth and saw the girl whimpering and trying to cower away from him. His right hand stiffly grabbed the chopsticks near her plate and took a slice of beef teriyaki.

"Open." He ordered in a grunt holding the food in front of her lips. The girl whimpered and slowly opened her mouth, allowing him to put the beef in her mouth. "Now keep eating." His voice was stern as he put the chopsticks in her hand and set her down on her chair, getting up himself and walking towards the other side of the table, towards his delicious tomatoes. When Uchiha Sasuke wanted something, he got it, and it wasn't a brat that would stop him.

Before he was even seated he took a slice of tomato and put it in his mouth, savouring the flavour and texture of it, tomatoes had always been his favourite.

As he sat down he glanced at the other side of the table, and a smirk made its way to his lips as he saw Ryuuki eating happily and Kyuuki slowly eating, her eyes cast downwards, he'd probably scared her. She shouldn't have had a fit over ramen.

**I hope everyone enjoyed, and I really like the moments with the twins!!**

**I love reviews, and more than 10 reviews would be apreciated, so please contribute to my happiness, the plot bunnies like me when i'm happy!!**

**I'll give a virtual cookie to whoever leaves a review-- in fact, one isn't enough, so I'll give a jar of virtual cookies to everyone who reviews!! XD**

**And isn't that little purple button saying 'GO' after the 'leave a review' calling to you?? I bet it is...**

**Anyway... please review, I'll try to update sooner this time, I really will, pinky promise!!**

**...**

**I'm out of things to say, so...**

**Love you all, Kimi-chan!!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Konichiwa my dear readers!!**

**I apologise for the long wait, but _moi_ has been having a major block, no ideas flowig through my mind, which pisses me off...**

**anyway, I know it's short, but I'd rather post a short chapter, than post a lightly bigger nest month. Even if it's short, at least you get to enjoy it...**

**I hope you all like it, and, _please_, give me some ideas, tell me what you would like to see happening, that kind of thing, it would really _really_ help me**

**Thank you in advance.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does. I just own the story plot.**

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**Chapter 16**

Unlike what so many people say, life is never easy.

To start, you often have to make hard choices that will probably make someone happy, except you.

Then there's the problem of having to pretend to be someone you're not so other people are happy.

Just for the kicks of it you also have to deal with people you don't like/are annoying/are idiots/give you a headache/blabber too much/etc and you have to pretend that you like their company not to be rude.

And among an infinite list of things, you have to pretend you're happy and that your life is easy because you have to seem perfect to everyone.

Yup, life isn't easy, in fact, most of the times, it sucks, but we still have to deal with it, so… yeah… life's a pain.

But, not everyone follows these patterns.

Let's start with someone normal… well kinda normal, because there is no normal in this world, so… let's start with Uzumaki Naruto.

Life was a bitch to him, everyone despised him and he was a trouble maker. There was also the fact that the guy he most hated was in his team, and then, ironically, became his best friend (brother), who then left to join some creepy old dude.

But he got off ok, he became a great ninja, respected, and after countless beatings from his crush (Sakura), he finally found true love with Hinata. Oh, and he also made his childhood dream come true, he became the Hokage.

And although he still has the Kyuubi inside of him, although he has to deal with all of the problems of the village, and has a family to take care of, he turned out of, because he became happy after being miserable for so long.

Let's talk about someone else, like… let's see… Deidara.

His childhood was tragic, and let's face it, he's not the most stable guy in the world, but he's not that bad.

He saw his mother and sister get, ahem, raped and killed, and then he blew everyone of the attackers apart, I'd say it's natural, wouldn't you react the same way if you saw the people you loved being, well, you know… I know I would… probably.

He still has his best friend, who also saw his mother get killed (on the same occasion), and they now live in the same village after a long time apart.

He was forced to join Akatsuki as a teenager, turns out it wasn't such a bad choice, even if he was forced. If he hadn't been in Akatsuki he wouldn't have made so many friends, he wouldn't have had so many adventures, and he would probably still be stuck living in the past, in the dark memories.

Appreciating the most fleeting things in life, he became happy, even having the problems he had, getting into trouble once in a while and such, he became happy.

Now let's talk about someone that connects the two above mentioned people. No, not Sakura, let's keep it in the male line, let's talk about Uchiha Sasuke.

He lost his family when he was 8, he fought for revenge his whole life, left everything behind to get power, killed the source of his power (Orochimaru), then killed his brother (how come Itachi's still alive?? Maybe he resurrected him like he did to Deidara?), and now is the Leader of the most powerful organization known, Akatsuki.

He could have any woman he would like, his good looks would grant it to him. Money wasn't an issue, and power wasn't either.

We could say he turned out ok, like the 2 above mentioned people, and became happy, but then, something would be terribly wrong.

Uchiha Sasuke doesn't care about the choices he makes, he makes them, not to make someone else happy, but for his own benefit.

Uchiha Sasuke doesn't care about what others think of him, he is like he is, and if someone doesn't like it, well, too bad.

Uchiha Sasuke doesn't care if he's rude, if something, or someone, is annoying/an idiot/etc, he won't deal with them, either he'll tell them to shut the fuck up, to go away, or go die somewhere far away.

Uchiha Sasuke doesn't pretend he's happy for the sake of other people, in fact, he doesn't pretend at all, because if he's happy or not is his business only, not someone else's.

Uchiha Sasuke followed his own life pattern, and that's what made him… him.

* * *

He walked down the hallways of the Akatsuki base calmly, his steps echoing, and it all seemed like a _déjà vu_, because he'd done the same path that morning.

With a low sigh he continued to the office, hopping that he didn't have to go away and come back later again.

Once he reached the office, a low sigh of relief left his lips, the door was closed, which meant that Leader was probably there… but it could also mean that he wasn't or that he was busy.

A frown made its way t his face and he sighed in frustration, he couldn't deliver the scroll too late, it might be important.

Exhaling to calm his nerves he knocked and after a couple of seconds heard a muffled (by the door) _'come in'_.

He gladly opened the door and entered the neat office.

"A scroll with the Konoha and Suna seals arrived, I suppose it's for you Leader-sama." He put the scroll on the desk and observed as the raven haired 23 year old raised his head from the book he was reading and eyed the scroll.

"Thank you, you're dismissed." His onyx eyes never left the scroll as he spoke, but that was natural, when Leader's attention was captured, it would stay on what captured it.

He nodded and bowed politely while speaking a low _'hai'_. Turning to the door he exited the office and wondered where the cute kids were.

* * *

"Isn't that interesting." Onyx orbs glanced to the right through the corner of his eyes and narrowed at the man who had spoken.

"What do you want?" he asked impatiently, he wasn't in the mood to deal with him.

"Now, now Sasuke, calm down." He looked back to the scroll in his desk and ignored the last comment. "We have Juugo." He glanced at the man for a brief moment and then looked back to the scroll.

"Good, now go away." He really wasn't in the mood to deal with him, not after the episode with the kids.

"Feisty aren't we?" the man chuckled and he narrowed his eyes again. "We have to talk." Now he sounded serious. "About t-" he got up and took the scroll.

"Save your speeches for when I'm bored enough to listen." He stated bluntly and took a few steps towards the door.

"I would watch my words if I were you Sasuke." the warning was deadly. "You wouldn't want something bad to happen to that girl now would you?" he clenched his fists and looked down, his bangs covering his eyes.

"So we _are_ talking about it." his fists clenched tighter and he exhaled slowly, lifting his face and then look back over his shoulder at the masked man with a deadly glare, his sharingan activated.

"If you." He slowly turned his body to face the man fully. "As much as touch her." He took a step closer, his voice dripping with deadly poison. "I _will_ kill you." The man shrugged and walked to the window.

"I'd like to see you try." His jaw clenched at the taunting words, and he took forced steps towards the door.

"Just try me Madara." He stated darkly and exited the office, closing the door behind himself.

Madara looked back and chuckled.

"You're too confident kid." He muttered and looked back out of the window, he would get what he wanted and nothing and no one were going to stop him.

* * *

There were things in life that, sometimes, for unknown reasons, made you feel heavy, made your heart clench, made you fell sad, made your breathing become painfully slow, and also made you feel anguished.

Those things didn't have to be big things like loosing someone you love or having to make difficult choices for the greater good, those things could be small, almost insignificant things, like what he was seeing now.

Sometimes he didn't understand himself, at all, because usually, no matter what, he didn't give a damn, but then, there were times like these in which emotions overwhelmed and smothered him. And he hated when it happened, because it made him feel like a child, something he wasn't anymore.

Something so small, so almost insignificant, so… so meaningless, and yet, it made him feel all those things. Why couldn't he just not care? He hated feeling this way, and yet, sometimes he loved it.

It bothered him that he felt this way over something so trivial, it bothered him that he felt things and wished things he shouldn't and that he knew were out of his reach. It bothered him that the biggest cause of all of this was someone he had once considered annoying and weak, it bothered him that now he wanted to break all the laws of physics and go back in time to fix his sins.

And over everything, it bothered him to see Kyuuki run to Deidara the moment he entered the living room. It bothered him that the blond took the small girl in his arms and asked her what was wrong. It bothered him that the small girl hugged the blond and cried. It bothered him that, even not understanding, Deidara comforted the crying girl. And worst of all, it bothered him that it was Deidara and not him.

Clenching his fist around the scroll he hadn't opened yet, he decided to walk away, because he felt overwhelmed enough, and he didn't want to feel it even more.

So he walked away, the knot in his throat not going away, and the heaviness he felt just getting worst.

Life was a bitch.

With a sigh he found himself on the roof and decided to sit down, might as well stay alone for a while. Being alone always seemed to calm him down.

He put the scroll down next to him and did a few hand seals, when he was over the rain stopped and the clouds disappeared, he felt like watching the stars tonight.

He took the scroll once more and inspected it. It was a normal scroll, like the ones he gave to his shinobi with the missions description, the only difference were the colours (but the colour didn't influence the scroll in anything) and the 2 seals, one of Konoha and the other of Suna.

He slowly undid the seals and then opened the scroll. Neat handwriting (which he doubted wasn't Naruto's, he'd say, since there was the Suna stamp on it, it was probably Gaara's) greeted him, not a big text, just a few lines with the Hokage and Kazekage's signature in the end.

He wondered why they were writing, of all things, and not just acting, being careless, like Naruto usually was. Giving way to his curiosity, his eyes went back to the fist line, and he read what was written.

_We come by this means to inform you, Amegakure's Daimyo, that the council of the Kage's is considering an enlargement in number, thus one more Kage would be pronounced, the Amekage._

_Is had been decided that the Hokage and Kazekage would be the ones to judge if you are, or not, worthy of such an honour. To determine so, we shall visit your village and examine its status._

_We shall come escorted by 4 of our best shinobi, and hope that your best shinobi will escort us from the border to the village, since the village of Amegakure is still unknown in the maps._

_We shall arrive in a few days when the full moon is up._

_Until then,cordially,the Hokage and Kazekage._

_Uzumaki Naruto and Sabaku no Gaara._

He raised a brow when he finished reading, they wanted to impose another Kage? He had to say, they came up with a very good idea to enter Amegakure, but why would they come, he knew they would come for Sakura, but she wasn't there, so why?

He decided to drop the subject, and lay the scroll down, after closing it, next to him. They said he was a Daimyo, he was much more than that, but they probably knew, Daimyo was probably the only term, other than Kage, that they could apply to him.

Shrugging he lay down on the roof and gazed at the stars, they looked pretty tonight.

He sighed, nostalgia filling him, he used to watch the stars with his mother when he was a child, they would sit in the wooden exterior corridor and watch them. Every time she would tell him a story, it was always the same, but it was his favourite, and when she was done, his father would appear and say that it was late and they had to go to bed.

Now that he thought about it, his father was probably there the whole time, but…

"_Ne, kaa-chan, why does tou-san only talks about aniki?"_

"_Between you and me Sasuke, when we're alone, your father only talks about you."_

A smile tugged at his lips and he closed his eyes, it was as if he could hear his mothers voice, narrating the tale, like she always did.

It would start with the classic _once upon a time_ and it was filled with adventure, sacrifice and a happy ending.

He opened his eyes once again and let himself just appreciate the twinkling white stars that lightened the sky, the sky would never be the same.

He wondered if she was looking at the sky too.

* * *

Something had to be done, and she knew it. She had come so far, she done so much, and now that she was here, she had no idea of what to do next.

When she faced, she knew she had to, what would she do?

Would she punch him in the face with a chakra infused fist? A hard slap perhaps?

Would she run at him and hug him? Kiss him?

Would she yell at him for doing what he did?

Would she cry?

Would she freeze and let him do all the actions?

Would she loose her voice and break down?

What? What? What? She had no idea.

She wanted to do all of the above, and at the same time, not do anything.

The truth was, she was afraid to face him.

What would he do? How would he react?

Would he knock her out cold and put her in a cell?

Would he turn his back and ignore her?

Would he walk to her and hug her?

Would he kiss her?

What? What? What? She had no idea.

So many possibilities, and so many unknown things, and she couldn't predict and outcome, she simply couldn't.

Would there ever be and _happily ever after_ for her? Or at least some happiness?

She swallowed the lump in her throat and refused to cry, because she wasn't a pathetic, weak and stupid little girl anymore. Then she looked at the sky, it had stopped raining, all of a sudden, and the clouds had all disappeared, she had always liked star gazing.

With a sigh she let herself enjoy the view.

Was he watching the stars too??

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed it, and once again, let me know what you think, and your ideas would be apreciated, I'm really out of ideas, which will probably make my next update not that soon, unless I get a super idea that makes me write and makes me have more ideas... --' A girl can hope...**

**Please review, isn't that little button with the _GO_ in it after the _Leave a review_ box just calling to you?? I bet it is...**

**Nothing else (that i can remember) to say, so...**

**Love you all so very much, especially my dear reviewers,**

**Kimi-chan!!**


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm sorry for the wait my beloved readers, I hope you enjoy this new chapter as much (or more) as I enjoyed writing it!!**

**I decided to make Sasuk's feelings evolve, and so, most of the chapter will be focussing on him! Also, I made him apologise to little Kyuuki-chan... the outcome of it you will have to read!! XD**

**And I also inserted our dearest Hokage and Kazekage, they're on their way!!**

**Please let me know what you think, reviews are very much apreciated!! so please, _pleeeeeasseeeee Review!!_**

**Anyway, read and enjoy!!**

**Chapter 17**

He wondered when he had become so pathetic (at least in his opinion). He wondered why it had come to the point where he wanted to let everything fall apart so he could have a little bit of, he didn't even ask for happiness, contentment with life would be more than enough.

But nothing ever came, because Kami-sama (the real one, not himself) seemed to not like him. It was like he was doomed to do great things, but when it came to happiness, he could just watch others from the sidelines. He didn't have happiness. He would never have it. Because he didn't deserve it.

Let's say that, hypothetically, he had made the right choices to have some happiness, would it have been a happiness like the one that often plagued his dreams since years ago until now?

Would he be living somewhere with her? Would they be married? Would they have children? Would she cook for him? Would she… love him?

Because he wanted to be with her… he wanted _her_, to be with her, to touch her, to hear her voice, her laugh, to see her smile at him, to be touched by her, to kiss her… he wanted her body, her heart and her soul.

He knew he was being greedy… and selfish, but he wanted her all to himself, and everyone else could just watch from the sidelines as they lived their own happiness.

But that would never happen.

But still… he couldn't help himself but to ask these questions, stupid question, that he knew had no answer to be given. Would they have children? Would she cook for him? Or would he cook for her? Because he wanted kids with her, one or a lot didn't matter. Because even if she wouldn't cook for him, out of laziness, stubbornness or just because she didn't knew how, he would cook for her, and it wouldn't bother him at all, because he would do it for her, and that was enough reason for him to want to do it.

Did she even think of him? Of what had happened on her 19th birthday? Or had she forgotten those memories, shoved them aside not to be remembered again?

… he didn't want her to… he hoped with all he had she hadn't, because… he wanted her to remember, because it had been something… that he couldn't describe with words.

She had tasted so good, those pink lips of her… even if he had listened to every single word she had said, her lips, moving with each word, had captured his attention, tempting him, taunting him to just lean in and press them to his own. And oh… she was so intoxicating. They had been sitting on the sand and she had only been in her underwear, but that hadn't mattered, because she had been in his arms, and after crying silently for a few moments, it had happened, the kiss. It had been chaste, delicate even, and she had blushed prettily, and he knew that (even if he didn't like it) he had lightly blushed too. The moment he had touched those full (perfect) pink lips of hers, it was like lightning had flashed and hit him, because it felt so good, and his skin tingled, and his lips felt like they were on fire.

And then there were her eyes. Sparkling emerald green eyes. Those pools of emotions in which he could just loose himself freely and not care about anything else. Her eyes were what made him feel heavy every time something happened and he saw those eyes, because he could see all the emotions she was feeling, he could read her like and open for consultation book. And he hated those eyes, so much, because they would glisten when she was about to cry, and that made it all the more difficult to look away and not run his fingers near them to take the tears away. But then, he loved those eyes too, because even when she was hurt, when _he_ hurt her, there were always those emotions that he dared not mention, those emotions she felt for him and him alone.

Her hair… oh Kami, her hair. It was the most pleasant thing he had ever had the pleasure to touch. It was soft and silky, and his fingers ran through it so freely, as if he was running his fingers through water. It was addictive, because he could just run his fingers though her hair forever and never get tired of it, because it felt so good, either dried or wet, it was still the most pleasant thing he had ever touched. And it smelled so nice too, it wasn't an essence like chocolate or coffee, it was something he couldn't describe, it was… putting it simply, it smelled like her.

And also, she had been so soft, her skin was like silk, and the water around them had only made it all the more pleasant. Her peachy skin, glowing beautifully and putting the beauty of the moon in shame, had been so… so… delicate and soft and… he loved it, because he would never (ever) get tired of seeing that peachy skin, or of touching it, feeling it, smelling it. He would never get tired of it, and it wasn't just soft and silky to the touch, it tasted good too, and even if her lips were addicting, her skin was too, and he had been so pleased with himself when he had seen the small (or not that small) marks he had made on that pure skin. He had marked her, and she should have know at that moment that she was his, and he would not admit it that others males did the same to her.

Her essence was something he could never forget, because she tasted just like she smelled, not sweet, not bitter, just in between. It wasn't something that could be said in words, but, trying, he would say, maybe, that she tasted and smelled like vanilla and peppermint. Not too sweet. Not too bitter. Just perfect. Just like he imagined her to smell and taste.

There had also been her hands running over his body. Her feather light touches haunted him, because they left his skin burning and craving for more of her touches. And then her feather light touches had changed, turning into her hands pressing against his skin, her nails digging into his shoulders until he had felt blood. That had been when they had— many people would have said had sex, but it hadn't been sex, sex was a word used to characterise something purely lustful, and what had happened between them wasn't just about lust, so he called what had happened making love (He was just like his mother, a hopeless romantic, although he didn't show it). She was the human form of a goddess. He was the one called Kami-sama, but she was the one who deserved such honourable title.

He sighed and turned on his side, the bed was soft and he would have slept just fine, if it wasn't for the feelings that were plaguing his mind, making insomnia settle and prevent him from resting.

How he longed- no, _craved_ to have her in his arms again, to be able to touch her, feel her, see her, kiss her, hug her, be touched, be felt, be seen, be kissed and be hugged by her. How he craved to have a taste of her skin again- of her lips. How he craved to see her smile, to hear her laugh, to see her blush. But most of all, he craved to hear those words. Those words she only pronounced to him, that he had answered back to that night.

I love you. Aishiteru.

_I love you. Aishiteru._

_**I love you. Aishiteru.**_

_**I love you. **__**Aishiteru.**_

Was it too much to ask?

Of course it was, she probably hated his guts by now.

_Nooo_, he couldn't have just walked up to her and asked for explanations, he had to go and execute one of his genius plans, kidnapping her children to make her suffer. Well, his _genius_ plan was backfiring, and as much as he didn't like it, it was done, and he had do deal with it.

He couldn't just have bough some flowers, a box of chocolates or maybe given her this whole damn village, _**noooo**_, he just had to go and do great (_wrong_) things because he was too blind to see ahead of his… of his… of his…

He turned back to the ceiling and threw the sheets away from his body.

He had been too blind to see ahead of his… of his… of his _fucking_ heartbreak.

"_You're making a mistake Sasuke, you should think before you do anything."_ But he just had to ignore his older brother, the one that, as it turns out wasn't a bad guy, only made himself seem like one so he (his little brother) wouldn't suffer and would be a hero by killing the murderer of an entire clan.

He got up from the bed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

The only thing he had wanted was a family, and now he had nothing. Sure, he had a village, but that wasn't what he wanted.

He walked to the window and let his forehead lean against the cool glass.

He wanted her. Her and only her.

It would be enough for him.

If he had her, he wouldn't care if he just had a small house on some god forsaken place far away from all the shinobi world.

He really wouldn't care, because he only needed her.

Only her.

_Only her._

_**Only her.**_

He closed his eyes and refused to give in to the pain, he was strong, and he'd rather suffer on the inside and seem stoic on the outside than the other way around.

"Sakura…" he mumbled softly.

He needed her, because she was what kept him sane.

* * *

"_Ne, Aniki, why did you give onee-chan flowers?" the small boy asked his older brother. The taller boy looked up from his book and raised a brow but remained silent. The smaller boy glared, but it was quite half-hearted._

"_Ne, I saw you giving her flower because I wanted to see you train and then I followed you and I saw you and onee-chan." The older boy frowned and was about to speak, when the smaller boy's face turned into big puppy dog eyes and a fearful pout._

"_Ne, Aniki." The small boy spoke quietly. "Are you mad?" the older boy sighed and motioned for his little brother to sit next to him. The small boy eagerly crawled over the wooden floor of the outdoors corridor until he was sitting next to his brother. His eyes were shining in eagerness._

"_I'm not mad Sasuke." the older boy said quietly and ruffled Sasuke's hair while leaning back against the wall. "But you shouldn't follow me around, next time ask me." The small boy nodded and leaned against his brother._

"_Why did you give onne-chan the flowers Aniki?" Itachi sighed again and looked up at the sky._

"_You give nice things to the people you like." Sasuke tilted his head in thought._

"_Like to Kaa-chan?" Itachi smiled faintly._

"_Yes, but in a different way."_

"_Eh…"Sasuke was quiet for a while. "What's the different way?" the small boy looked up and Itachi sighed again._

"_It's someone special to you, someone you don't want to loose and want to be with forever." Sasuke nodded._

"_Do you like one-chan like that?" Itachi looked down at his brother and smirked lightly, his hand reached up and he poked his brother's forehead._

"_I'll tell you some other time." The small boy pouted while nursing his forehead._

* * *

He really was pathetic. What was he? Some freakin' idiot? Was he expecting forgiveness from her?

He was so pathetic.

He let out a frustrated breath and looked at the small lump in the bed. He had finally managed (how he had no idea) to stop thinking about a certain pin haired woman, but he still wasn't pleased.

"_Damn it."_ now he had someone else to worry, the small girl he had probably scared at dinner (way to go genius). And it bothered him that it bothered him that she had run to Deidara for comfort.

"_Fuck."_ He hadn't used such a colourful language in quite a while, at least when it came to woman and kids.

He gripped the object in his hand tighter and walked to the bed where he knew tha small girl was sleeping.

Why was he doing this again? He kept telling himself that it was just to piss Deidara off on the long run, but it didn't sound truthful, not even to him. But he still kept telling himself that it was true.

He bent stopped next to the girl and ran a finger over her hair, moving a strand away from her eyes.

For his surprise, the girl bolted upright and backed away from him holding the covers close to her body.

In the darkness he knew she couldn't see him, but she looked scared. He reached out for her, and when he touched her, she whimpered and shied away, holding the covers even closer.

Nice, now he didn't feel bothered about it, he felt guilty as well.

Taking the object he had been holding he put it in her hands (she whimpered at the touch, again).

She was trembling, holding the object unsurely, and he decided to turn the light in the nightstand on.

The moment the lights were on and she saw him a sob escaped her lips and she shied away even more, letting go of what he had put in her hands.

He sighed and sat down next to her, his hands reaching for the covers and then taking them lightly away from her body.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." He whispered (why was his throat so dry all of a sudden?) and touched her face, cupping her cheek and making her face him.

She was about to cry, and her eyes were too much like Sakura's for his own sake (yes, his), not because of the colour, but because he could see right through them, see all of the emotions.

"I… hm… brought you something." He whispered lamely (at least for him, the girl probably didn't notice). He held the object he had been carrying to her, again, and waited for her to look down.

Her eyes slowly travelled down to the object on his hand, and the fear in her eyes disappeared (thankfully).

"_Thank you Kami-sama."_

"F-for m-me?" she asked slowly, in a whisper, and he nodded. She looked up, her eyes hopeful? "Really?" he nodded again and held the object closer to her. She looked back down and slowly reached it with her small hands.

When she took hold of it, he let go and watched as she examined it.

"It looks like Daddy!" she exclaimed quietly, and he felt something constrict inside of him, painfully. After her previous remark she hugged the small doll to her chest and he let out a small smile seeing her smile (what was it with him and smiles?).

"I'm sorry… about, hm, being mean." He mumbled the words, looking away from the girl, he was never good with apologies.

The small girl crawled closer to him and them hugged him, her new plushie doll still in her hand (he remembered Sakura offering him that plushie doll for his 12th birthday, it was a small doll that she had made of himwhite short, weapons pouch, navy blue shirt with the Uchiha symbol, hitai-ate and spiky hair included, surprisingly realistic at that, at the time he had ignored it and put it aside, but he had kept it safe from everything since she had given it to him. He had always known she was the regular fangirl, if she was she wouldn't have given him his plushie, she would have given him her, the one that represented her).

"Kaa-chan says it's not good to be mad at people." The girl stated and looked up at him. "She says that you should smile instead of being angry." The girl grinned at him and he couldn't help but to smile at the girl and huge her back.

"I'm glad." He whispered and took in a deep breath. She really was a good mother. He looked back down at the girl and then lifted her up, to then lay her down on the bed.

"But now go to sleep." The girl nodded and curled into a ball, the plushie doll being held close to her body. He covered her and was about to walk away when she spoke, and he stopped (why couldn't he ignore like he did to everyone else?).

"Ne, Dei-nii-chan always kisses us good night." The small girl mumbled sleepily. He hesitated but bent down nonetheless, kissing the girls forehead and then running his fingers through her hair once again, moving it out of her face.

"Goodnight." The girl snuggled, already going into dreamland.

As he walked out of the room he missed the words she mumbled before going into deep slumber.

"Goodnight daddy…"

* * *

This is troublesome."

"Will you shut up with it already."

"You're troublesome Ino."

"Seriously, if you don't stop with the troublesome I'm gonna punch you."

"You're tr-"

"Whoa, whoa, guys, calm down." He sweat dropped at the 2, even after separating their own ways, they still bickered to no end. Shikamaru sighed and mumbled another _'troublessome'_; which got him a whack on the head from Ino. He sighed again, but this time said nothing.

The group was sitting on a clearing around a small fire they had started, they had a couple of calm walk before reaching the Rain border, and they had time to reach it.

In agreement, they (Naruto and Gaara) had decided that Sai would stay in Konoha (the artist nin wasn't that pleased, but he had had to obey, since it had been orders of the Hokage) and they had gathered 4 strong shinobi. Since there wasn't time to go to Suna to get Suna nins, they had settled for Konoha ones.

Shikamaru had been a must for his strategic mind (so he was kinda married to temari, but they lived in Konoha for 6months and in Suna for the remaining 6, it had been established that way since none wanted to leave their home village).

When the words 'Sakura' and 'trouble' had been mentioned, Ino had made herself invited, and no one had been able to get her away, so they had just settled for letting her come, and she was strong (all of it because she was Sakura's best friend).

Then they had brought Neji, he was also a must for his Byakugan and skills (not much to add for him, except that he had seemed worried for a few seconds before his calm façade had came back).

And then they had hesitated, would they bring Kakashi, Yamato, Lee, Kiba, Shino or Chouji? (everyone else was kinda busy) they had decided that Lee was out of the equation, he was too much like Gai for everyone's own good, and his speeches about youth were _really_ annoying. Shino had declined politely since he had had matters to attend for his clan, so he had been out. Chouji, since he kinda still ate too much had been left out, because they didn't need him whining about not having any chips while they travelled (Ino had been the one to refuse he come).

Kakashi had been worried, but Naruto had decided that his sensei would stay in his place and attend to the village, and seeing as the man was known for tardiness and laziness (out of missions of course) Yamato had stayed to help.

So there had been Kiba left in the picture, but the boy hadn't been able to come, seeing as Akamaru was sick, and without his dog, Kiba really was a sulking gaki.

So everyone had been stuck, until Hinata (who Naruto refused to take because it could turn dangerous, and he didn't want her to get hurt, that and the fact that she was 4 months pregnant.) had quietly suggested Tenten. Neji had been apprehensive, but he had agreed nonetheless, knowing the abilities his lover to-be-wife (he was a stubborn man, and until he had been able to propose to her, it had been a while, so now they were 8 months engaged, it had been decided that the marriage would be when all of their friends could attend).

And so, the group had been made. The Kazekage and Hokage's escorts were Neji, Tenten, Shikamaru and Ino.

Not a bad combination.

"So, Naruto, what's really going on? And why are we going to Rain to get Sakura? Wasn't she supposed to be in Suna?" Naruto was taken aback by so many questions at one, especially since he didn't have all the answers.

"Well, why don't you ask Gaara, he knows more than I do." He defended himself with the last statement, because the blond was about to bombard him with another load of questions.

Ino looked over at the brooding Kazekage and scratched her head, to then look over at Shikamaru.

"Let's go get more wood for the fire lazyass." She ordered as she got up.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and got up as well, he wasn't in the mood to hear her rant and blabber, she ranted and blabbered too much anyway. As he walked behind her he took the cigarette pack from his pocket and took one out, as well as the lighter.

"Troublesome." He mumbled before putting the cigarette in his mouth and taking a long swig of it.

He exhaled the smoke in a sigh and followed the blond woman into the woods, she just wanted to get away from the camp before Gaara said anything to her, because boy, the Kazekage wasn't in a good mood these days, and he had a way to be ruthless with the most innocent word.

**I hoe you liked this chapter!!**

**This story is probably reaching and end, but worry not, everything between everyone will be cleared out, the truth will come out!**

**Please review and give me your opinions, it's always good to hear (read) the opinion of other people, it helps me improve!!**

**Since I don't know what to write anymore (damn, i'm out of rambling material... --'), I'll just say until the next chapter!!**

**Oh, you can always add me on MSN if you want, it's always a pleasure to talk with new people!! My e-mail's on my profile!!**

**So... without further ado, since now I'm really out of rambles (--')**

**Love you all so very much,**

**Kimi-chan!!**


	18. Chapter 18

****

To all my dear readers, my sincere apologies for the delay, that miraculously wasn't that big this time!!

**I hope you'll all enjoy this chapter, I thought about making it bigger, but I still don't have the exact idea of what I want next, and waiting for it to be formulated would just take a while, and my beloved readers would get impatient and mad, so I decided to put this up...**

**I'm trying to include Naruto's group as well, so the story won't be resolving around just a couple of characters and then the others come up but almost didn't enter, I hope you enjoy!! as always, please review!!**

**Also, this story is probably reaching an end, but don't worry, I'm not just gonna start dismissing it, I'm still gonna work hard for it to be as good as possible!! As a side note, when I finish the story I'll be revising the initial chapters, I won't be changing the plot, but I'll definitively change the POV in certain parts, making it a regular POV instead of someones' POV, also, I think some details will change, though nothing that would change the story!!**

**For the revising, and maybe even for further chapters, I was thinking about getting a Beta, though I'd rather have someone who actually reads my stories and all than someone who would onlly be doing it because... Anyway, if someone would like to do it, they're welcome to contact me, it's always good to have someone that revises your grammar and also gives you ideas when you get blocked!! I'd obviously want someone good!! Well... consider it ok?**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, right, I wish!! I just own the plot of the story and a really kawaii (cute) grey neko (cat) named Kira (because I was on some sort of Death Note fangirlish day when I named her XD)!!**

**Enjoy and review please!!**

* * *

**Chapter 18**

He yawned and stretched as he made his way to the kitchen, intent on eating something. His stomach growled and he sighed. Hell, he was hungry.

Now let's see, what would be nice for breakfast.

"_Hmm… maybe I'll ask Hana to make some pancakes."_ He hadn't eaten pancakes in such a long time, and it was one of his favorite treats.

He yawned again and covered his mouth with his hand, it wasn't nice to see other people's insides and all.

"_I wonder if she's up."_ As he finished his thought and entered the kitchen he stopped, it sure was crowded today, or maybe he was imagining things.

Rubbing his eyes and then blinking a few times he came to the conclusion that it wasn't an illusion, the kitchen was really packed. He snickered quietly when he compared the packed kitchen to a sardine can.

"Mornin'." The first to great him was Suigetsu.

"Mornin'." He replied back and searched the kitchen for a chair or somewhere to sit.

"No chairs this morning." The water addicted nin answered his thoughts. "The girls settled there, and the 'I've-got-a-stick-shoved-up-my-ass' bastards took the others. Saucekay took one, Kai took another one and the twins took the last 2." He sighed, great, he could barely stand from sleepiness and now… yeah, he had to stand.

"Great." He mumbled, he wasn't in his best mood today. He looked around again to see if he could sit on the counter or something, but, yet again, it was already occupied by Ryo, Kisame and Tobi and Juugo wasn't sitting on it, but was leaning against it.

"There's always the floor!" the water nin joked. He threw the guy a dirty look before moving towards where the twins were, he could always take one of them, sit in their chair and sit them on his lap.  
Yeah, that sounded good enough.

"Forget about using the twins, they wouldn't even let Ryo take a sit with them on his lap." He froze in mid step and sulked.

"You gotta be kidding me." He looked around the kitchen again before taking a resolve.

"Oh hell, I'm going out for breakfast." He announced loudly and started walking out of the kitchen, they could usually all fit in there.

"Where are you going Deidara?" he rolled his eyes and looked at Sasuke over his shoulder.

"Out. Breakfast." He stated and walked out, hell, if he wanted to eat something in here he'd have to wait for lunch, and he was too hungry to wait.

When he reached the balcony and was about to start jumping over the roofs to go get some breakfast, he raised a brow at the water nin that was following him.

"What do you want?" without breakfast and still sleepy, he was never in a good mood. Suigetsu shrugged.

"I tried to get something to eat, but they totally raided the kitchen." He rolled his eyes, figured they'd do that, especially Ryo and Kai, they ate their asses off at each meal.

"Fine. C'mon." and they started making their way towards Fay's house.

* * *

He stopped before opening the window that led inside the living room and turned towards Suigetsu.

"Whoever you see in here, you can't tell Kami-sama or we're dead, well, me especially." Suigetsu shrugged.

"Whatever, as long as I get breakfast." He rolled his eyes and opened the window, taking his shoes off, and then entered. Suigetsu followed suit, also taking his shoes off.

The house was quiet and dark, signaling that whoever lived there was sleeping.

"Are you sure we're gonna get breakfast?" he ignored and started walking towards a certain room to go get his breakfast giver.

"Stay there, I'll be right back." He had a mischievous grin on his face as he opened the door to her room. She was sleeping soundly, her stomach down, one of her arms spread to the side and the other under her pillow. She was only wearing a baggy T-shirt, he presumed Fay's, and the sheets were only covering her lower half, and even so, most of her legs weren't covered.

Some men would get, ahem, horny by the scene, but he just grinned wider, the mischief in his eyes ever present as he walked closer to her.

Before he did anything, he gathered himself and put on his best puppy dog look and kneeled down so he could be face to face with her.

"Sakura-chan." He whined. "Make me breakfast." She groaned and shifted slightly, but didn't wake up. He nudged her on the ribs with his index finger and whined.

"Sakura-chan, I'm hungry." He nudged her again. "Sakura-chan." He nudged her again and she slapped his hand away while turning her back at him.

"Go away Naruto." She mumbled and curled up. Naruto? Hey, that was an insult, he may be blond, and have blue eyes… but he wasn't an idiot like the Kyuubi boy.

"Sakura-chan, c'mon, I'm starving." But, since he wanted to wake her up, might as well use some dirty tricks. "C'mon Sakura-chan." He nudged her ribs again, this time with more force. "The kitchen's burning and I don't know what to do. Sakura-chan." He whined again, and this time she turned to him, her gaze wasn't focused, but looked threatening.

"I'm tired you moron, now go away." She poked his shoulder and he was sent backwards to the floor. Damn, she wasn't waking up, and even in her sleep she was strong. Damn.

Pouting he got up and then grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder.

"I need breakfast." He whined as she squeaked and woke up as if he had throw cold water in her face.

"Huh? Naruto put me down right now." She hissed and hit his back.

"Geez, stop calling me that, I'm not your moronic friend, and you're cooking me breakfast." She was confused for a few seconds, in which he walked into the hallway.

"Huh?" she looked back to see long blond hair instead of spiky short blond hair, and then it all came to mind, and her temper started going up.

"Deidara? Let me down, I went to bed at fucking 5 a.m." she practically yelled, being nice enough not to because of the sleeping Fay on the other room.

"I need to sleep damn it." As he walked past the living room she noticed Suigetsu on the couch.

"And what the hell is he doing here? And let me down damn it." The last statement was followed by a bonk in his head, which followed by her feet touching the floor, the blond whining and nursing his head.

"S-Sakura-chan… I need breakfast, yeah." he whined again, pouting with tears ready to fall from his eyes. She looked at him skeptically and then glared.

"First, why the hell is he here?" she pointed at the relaxed man on the living room, to which it was the person itself and not Deidara who answered.

"The idiots raided the kitchen and I need breakfast too." He shrugged. "And I don't care who you are, what I do and who hang around with isn't of Saucekay's business." She stared at him for a few seconds, to then start laughing.

Deidara looked at her with a weird look, what was funny, and why wasn't she brutalizing Suigetsu like she had him?

"Oy, what's so funny pinky?" she glared at him through her laughter and the started holding her sides.

"It's just... –laugh-… so funny… -laugh-… Saucekay…" she kept laughing and he stared at her in shock.

"Ne, are you ok?" she nodded, kept laughing and small tears started appearing in her eyes from laughing so much.

* * *

Kisame watched in amusement as the small girl moved her feet happily while eating her breakfast, her new toy (which had gotten, in Sasuke's opinion, a very unnecessary remark from Suigetsu, followed by Leader hitting him on the back of the head) being hugged by her free arm. She just seemed to not want to let it go, no one had managed to get it away from her, not even her brother.

He wondered if the younger boy knew already, but he supposed not, he was still to blind in his own misery to notice, so he just decided to keep quiet and let the boy find out on his own, it was something concerning his life after all, plus, his new collection of sake bottles kept his mouth shut for the time being.

Ryo took the mug where his warm tea was and took it up to his lips. Before the mug touched his lips he turned to the side and raised a brow.

"Damn it. Damn it." The orange haired man cursed under his breath while waving his hands over the mug.

"You got burned again?" Kai glared at him and kept fanning his mug, to which he rolled his eyes. "Klutz."

"What was that?" the green eyed man hissed, to which he shrugged and extended one of his hands towards the Kai's mug.

"I'll cool it down." Kai huffed and turned his head away mumbling something under his breath.

Without much fuss, from the water in the atmosphere, he created some ice and let the small beads of ice fall into Kai's mug.

"Let the ice melt." Kai mumbled a 'thanks' and then took the mug in his hands, the orange haired wasn't always in a good mood in the morning, especially when something happened to him. Of course, after he ate his ass off, his good mood returned instantly.

Well… he couldn't complain much, he ate almost as much as Kai… but that was beside the point.

"Ne, nii-chan." He looked to his left (Kai was at his right) and looked down at the small boy.

"Nani?" the boy was nibbling on a piece of pancake while looking away from him, which made him seem really cute.

"That, hm, was really cool!" he grinned and patted the boy's head.

"It's useful!" the boy's shy smile turned into a grin.

"Ne, nii-chan, can you teach me?" he tilted his head, did the boy really know what he was asking? He glanced at the men sitting next to Ryuuki and then looked back at the small boy.

"Before I teach ya anything, you gotta become a genin, the best of the class, deal?" the boy tilted his head, a thoughtful expression adorning his face, until he grinned and nodded enthusiastically.

"And then you'll teach me?" he nodded and ruffled the boy's hair with a grin. "Really?" he nodded again.

"Hai, hai, I'll teach you." The boy cheered and clapped his hands, the piece of pancake he had been eating forgotten for the moment.

"You're the best nii-chan!!" he just grinned again and took a sip of his tea, and unlike Kai, he checked if it was too hot before actually gulping the warm liquid.

Next to Sasuke, that sat next to Ryuuki, who was sited next to Ryo, Kyuuki was eating her food happily, her legs dangling, and her plushie tightly held against her side, for some reason, she seemed very giddy and bubbly today. Also, unknown for the moment, she would be very clingy too.

* * *

"Wake up." She tapped her foot impatiently on the ground, a frown on her face as her blue eyes narrowed at the male sleeping, tightly snuggled on his sleeping bag, that now only covered his back due to too much movement during his sleep.

From behind her Shikamaru muttered a troublesome, Neji stayed quiet, although everyone could see the vein threatening to pop on his forehead, Tenten ignored and kept playing with the kunai on her fingers, and Gaara was leaning against a tree watching with a blank face.

The blond woman groaned and kicked the blond on the ground with her foot.

"Wake up Naruto." She kept tapping her foot on the ground when all the blond did was moan and turn his back to her. She nudged him with her foot again, this time harder.

"Wake up Naruto." She hissed loudly, to which the blond only moaned again while mumbling something.

Ino was dangerously close to assassinate her Hokage, but no one had been able to wake him up so far. Neji had tried the calm approach, shaking him, but that hadn't worked. Tenten had tried the cold water thrown to his face, another failure. Shikamaru hadn't tried, it was too troublesome. So she was trying now, and it seemed it was going to be another failure.

"Naruto." She called, almost yelled, and kicked his back full force, to which he groaned, didn't wake up and mumbled something.

"Ok, I give up, this idiot isn't waking up any time soon." She kicked him again just because he was being a pain in the ass, and then turned around, walked towards the log next to the remains of the fire of the previous night and sat down huffing, a glare directed at the Rukodaime Hokage.

Everyone else sighed, the problems with missions like these was that no one knew how to wake up the blond. Usually, when he went on missions, there was always someone from his team, Sakura, Sai, Kakashi or Yamato, and they seemed to be the only ones, apart from Hinata, that knew how to wake him up.

Still leaning against the tree and not moving, Gaara decided to wake the blond up, so he sent his sand (it was much more practical than doing it himself).

His sand slowly moved near the ground until it hit the target, slowly wrapping in his ankles. When that was done, the Kazekage watched everyone, waited for them to be all looking at the blond at once (even if they were just talking to each other) and made his sand move the body it was attached to.

Out of nowhere the Hokage (the great Hokage) was in the hair, head down, being lifted through the hair by the Kazekage's sand, and not very gently at that, seeing as he hit a few branches before he was in open sky, his T-shirt practically falling down, his sleeping hat (miraculously) still attached to his head, and his orange (figures) boxers falling down (huh, up?) his legs (not revealing anything, thankfully).

The Kazekage watched as the blond kept sleeping, and decided to be a little more aggressive. His sand released the blond, who then started falling face first towards the ground.

"Eh… What the hell??" the blond Hokage yelled and caught himself in a branch, after breaking a few trying to catch himself, and managed to not hit the ground. From his branch he glared at the people in the camp, most of them laughing their asses off.

"What was that for??" he yelled again. "And I swear to Kami, if I find out whoever did this, you're spending the rest of your life doing D-ranked missions." With his last statement he sounded like a pouting child talking.

"Baka." Ino spoke.

"What was that?? Because it sounded like you want D-ranked missions." Ino rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"Hey, I just tried to kick you awake, turns out it didn't work." Naruto glared at her, which didn't look menacing as it should thanks to the fact he was in his sleeping clothes.

"Get dressed Naruto." He turned to the Kazekage and kept glaring, his arms crossed over his chest.

"And by the way, you can't order me around and make me do D-ranked missions." Naruto's jaw dropped and Gaara smirked.

* * *

He mumbled something under his breath and sulked, why the hell did she had to have that super human strength of hers? And what had he done wrong to deserve being punched so hard? His head was fuckin' aching, he swore that when she hit him he felt a few bones of his jaw snap and his brain do some weird squishy sound.

Oh, now he remembered, it was all because (once again) Suigetsu had thrown a (so very much) unnecessary comment into the air, and damn it, why did he always have to be the one she hit? He hadn't been the one to speak.

That moronic idiot just had to sound like a pervert, he just couldn't keep his mouth shut. And now she was beyond pissed off at him.

"_Oh, and by the way, nice panties."_Suigetsu had been the one to make the comment, had been the one to actually see her panties, and he was the one who had to pay the price… hell, he should have been authorized to see her panties too for such a strong punch.

He winced when she slammed a plate of pancakes in front of Suigetsu (he felt better knowing she was pissed at Suigetsu too… although not much, his jaw hurt like hell), not even glancing at him.

Wait, what about him?? He had been the one to ask her, he had been the one that came for breakfast and not tagged along.

He looked up at her from his chair, he wasn't pouting (because he was 26— no, 23, and he wasn't a kid, and he didn't feel like acting like a gaki right now… much), but he looked at her with puppy dog eyes, pleading at that.

"Can I have some too?" he whispered quietly. She glanced at him with that ruthless, cold gaze of hers, and he shrunk further into the wooden chair, his gaze averting down. "Guess not then." He mumbled and crossed his arms on the table, letting his forehead rest against his arm. All he could see was the table now. Damn it, he felt like crap.

His stomach growled, damn it hurt, and he glared down at it through the table.

"Urusai." He hissed under his breath, prying his stomach to shut the hell up and stay quiet.

"Keh, looks like you're not getting breakfast after all blondy." He ignored the comment, making a mental note to make a bomb explode in the watter nin's room while he was sleeping.

There was the sound of a bonk in the head (he knew what the sounded like already).

"What was that… for?" Suigetsu spoke the last work quietly, laughed nervously and then started munching on his pancakes (he wanted some too) again. Sakura must have hit him and given him one of those ruthless, ice cold stared. He hated those, they made him shiver.

He spaced out for a while, not thinking about anything in particular, just words, making every possible effort not to think about his aching stomach. But after a while, he felt a poke on his head.

Turning his head to the left, he looked up (he must've looked like crap, just like he felt), but as he saw the plate being laid in front of him (laid, not slammed. In your face fish boy. Bleh!! XP), his face instantly brightened. She was looking away from him stubbornly, but he decided to thank her nonetheless… by being his obnoxious self.

"Thank you Sakura-chan!!" he cheered and hugged her waist, his head against her stomach. "You're the best Sakura-chan!!" he felt a tug on his hair and looked up.

"Let go." Oh, right, she was still pissed.

"Hai." He mumbled and leg go of her waist instantly, now eyeing the yummy looking pancakes… wait, was that chocolate over the pancakes? Yatta!! He had chocolate and Suigetsu didn't.

He joined his hands in front of him (he was more polite than Suigetsu, who hadn't even thanked for his food) and contained himself from drooling.

"Itadakimasu!!" he cheered happily and dug in. Just as he put the first bite in his mouth his eyes shone and he thanked Kami-sama (the one upstairs) that the pink haired lady existed and cooked him breakfast.

"Hmm… Umai!!" **(A/N: Umai Delicious)**he praised under his breath and kept eating. He had no idea if she cooked well (like soba or teriyaki) but she sure knew how to make pastries and such.

"I'm going back to bed, make sure you wash the dishes water-boy." She yawned after that as she walked into the hallway.

"Ne, Sakura-chan." She looked back over her shoulder with an annoyed look.

"Thanks for the breakfast!" he flashed her a grin, to which she rolled her eyes and smiled. "And… sorry 'bout earlier." She shrugged.

"If your jaw starts hurting talk to me." She paused and took a few steps. "When I'm not barely standing from lack of sleep." She yawned again and he nodded, even though she couldn't see him.

"Sure." Her steps died down as she closed the door to her room and he kept eating happily.

Glancing at Suigetsu, who didn't looked pleased for the chore he would have to do, he noticed that he water nin only had 2 pancakes (already half eaten), while he… hm…. He looked down at his plate and grinned smugly, Suigetsu had 2 pancakes with only a bit of butter over them, while he, on the other hand, had 4 big, fat pancakes with tons of chocolate over them. Compensation was really nice, if she'd cook for him like this, he wouldn't mind getting punched more often.

Wait. That didn't sound right, he did mind getting punched, it hurt like hell, but he still loved her cooking.

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed, I enjoyed writing it!!**

**Please review and let me know what you think, what you would like to see happening in next chapters and all of that!! Even if it's just telling me that you like it!! ****Oh, oh, please consider what I said about the Beta on the first author's note before the chapter!!**

**I'm out of things to say, I know I had a few things to say but... can't remember... hm... let me just think for a while!!**

**-thinking-**

**-thinking some more-**

**AHHHH, I REMEMBERED!! ****Gomen for the outburst... --'**

**I just want to dedicate this chapter to _Black Shadow Fox Shaman _because he/she (not sure which one) has been my most faithfull reviewer ever since chapter 6, and his/her reviews always make me grin, some of them even make me crack a laugh!! your opinions are really cool!! Thanks for the support and keep on reviewing!!**

**Also, thank you to everyone else for the support, it's really nice to be liked/ praised/ whatever for something I do for fun, because it really is for fun!!**

**I really love you all so very much (not romantically obviously XD),**

**yours truly,**

**Kimi-chan!!**


	19. Chapter 19

**I'm soooo sorry for taking so much time, but I've been kinda busy and also so very much engrossed in reading a book from my favourite author ever, Murakami Haruki, he's writing style is just really good and I just love his novels!!**

**But anyway, I know this chapter is short, but I've posted shorter chapters, so... yeah...**

**I hope you enjoy anyway, I'll try to update soon, considering I'll work on the next chapter of Tlye first and then on chapter 20 of Tsb...**

**Also, this chapter is dedicated to_ Black Shadow Fox Shaman _because he/she (still don't know) was the only one to review, which i think is sad, but anyway...**

**As always, please, pleeeeeaaaaassssseeeee _REVIEW_, because reviews make me happy and make me want to update sooner!!**

**Enjoy!!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the privilege goes to the great Masashi Kishimoto, I merely own the plot of this story and a few drawings that took me forever to finish (considering I don't have a natural gift to draw)!**

* * *

**Chapter 19**

He was about to leave the kitchen, after telling Tobi to wash the dishes (how he loved to piss off the guy by making him do petty stuff), when he felt a tug at his pants, actually, 2 tugs, one in each side.

He looked down to see the small twins and raised a brow.

"What?" Kyuuki kept holding his pants with her fingers, looking down and moving her feet slowly on the floor. Ryuuki, on the other hand, was looking up at him.

"Ne, ne, can I go play with Kai-nii-chan and Ryo-nii-chan?" he looked back over his shoulder at the males Ryuuki had mentioned, to see them talking to each other.

"Sure." The small boy hugged his leg (they really were small) and after cheering a loud 'thank you' ran off towards the other 2 adults. He then turned his attention to the small girl to his left, she was still looking down, and it reminded him of how Sakura, sometimes, acted when they were genin.

"Kyuuki?" he questioned, and she glanced up at him for a second, to then look back down and hug her new plushie tighter against her chest. He rolled his eyes and bent down lightly, to then pick her up in his arms and start walking, she was obviously not gonna say anything, and he had things to take care off, like decide who would go meet Naruto and his group to the border.

The small girl, after being lifted in his arms, hugged his neck with one arm, the other still holding the plushie.

"Did you want something?" she squeaked and looked at his face.

"A-anou… etou… I… well… can I stay and play with you?" he raised a brow in amusement and then shook his head.

"I have things to do, I can't play with you." She looked up at him with puppy dog eyes.

"But I want to stay with you." She whined, a pout joining the puppy dog eyes.

He sighed, why couldn't he bring himself to just ignore these kids?

"I still have work to do." He warned and she nodded, a grin on her face and hugged him, which turned out to be quite… weird, since her plushie got pressed against his throat in the process.

He sighed again and kept walking towards his office wondering when he had become so… he didn't even knew what to call it.

* * *

He knocked on the door twice before opening the door and poking his head inside, he wasn't about to piss her off again to get punched again and end up with a broken jaw and a concussion.

"Ne, Sakura-chan?" he called out, he had made sure to wait until 1 p.m. to go talk to her, 8 hours of sleep should be enough to at least wake her up without getting punched, besides, his jaw was hurting like hell, he had a really painful headache, it really hurt when he talked or moved his jaw in general and he was starting to see little creatures running around he knew couldn't be real.

"Sakura-chan?" he heard her groan as she turned on the bed to face the other way. After that she yawned and sat up on the bed, her eyes were unfocussed but this time he sensed no danger.

"What is it Dei?" he entered the room and, closing the door behind himself, walked closer to her. Wait, and since when did she call him Dei?... he hadn't been called that by a girl since his sister—

"I think something's wrong." She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and with a yawn she made sign for him to sit down next to her, which he did without complaints.

"Elaborate." Her tone as she spoke seemed different, as if she wasn't the same.

"Well, my head really hurts." She nodded and, sitting on her knees, got closer to him.

"Only that?" he shook his head slowly, every time he moved his head faster he got really dizzy and nauseous.

"My jaw hurts when I talk or just move it." She nodded and her hands reached for his face, pulling his bangs away for better examination. So that's what it was, her 'medic-mode'.

"Anything else?" he paused as she moved her fingers over his forehead before speaking again.

"Every time I move my head faster I get dizzy and nauseous." He ended his sentence while avoiding her gaze, and she looked at him skeptically.

"What else?" he glanced at her and then looked away from her and to the floor.

"Is it normal to see little creatures running around?" he mumbled under his breath and glanced at her, to see her looking worried and guilty.

"Nope." She spoke. "Close your eyes." She paused as he closed his eyes. "It might hurt a little." He nodded slowly and let her do her work. Even if it hurt, it sure was better than to stay like he was now.

"Suigetsu left after he ate by the way." Her fingers settled on each side of his face. "He didn't wash the dishes." He felt her stop and opened one of his eyes. She was twitching.

"You're gonna brutalize him the next time you see him aren't you?" she nodded. "But can you please heal me first?" she giggled quietly.

"Hai, hai, but close your eyes." He smiled and closed his eyes, he trusted her enough to be sure he would be fine.

As for Suigetsu, he felt sorry for the guy, because when Sakura got angry, it was as if hell came to earth, or something like that.

* * *

He sighed for the _umpteen_th time and looked up at the ceiling, since when was he a babysitter? Or something like that.

The small girl giggled again and he closed his eyes, trying to block everything around him so he could actually focus on what he had to do. Sure, he had taken care of half of the (huge) pile of papers and scrolls that had been lying on his desk, but he found himself unable to concentrate properly with the small girl on his lap, she just wouldn't let go or let him put her down for even a second.

"Ne, ne, look!!" the small girl exclaimed and held the white sheet of paper with black and grey doodles in front of his face.

He sighed again and looked down, examining the drawing, or doodle or whatever Kyuuki had done. He raised a brow when he saw doodles he supposed were meant to be people.

"This is Ryo-nii-chan." She pointed at a doodle in the white sheet. "And this is Kai-nii-chan, and then here is Kao-nee-chan and Hana-nee-chan, here is Kisa-nii-chan, and Dei-nii-chan and then here it's you." As she spoke who it was she pointed at doodles in the sheet of paper, he noticed that she had oh-so-casually left Jin and Ruki out of it.

But as adorable he thought it was, he really had to work, he still had half of that huge pile of paper work to take care of (damn it, why didn't he have an assistant?) and he also had to hand a few missions, oh, also, the cherry on top, he had to chose 4 people to go get the Dobe and his group to the border in 2 days. The irony of the cherry on top.

"Ne, ne, do you like it?" and again with the puppy dog eyes that incapacitated him of (even if he wanted to) be mad at the twins.

"It's very nice." His words were forced, because even if he couldn't, even if he wanted, be mad, he was still irritated, and frustrated, because he had paper work to do and decisions to make. But she didn't seem to notice as a grin broke into her face and she squealed, not a high pitched squeal like that of fangirls, just a happy squeal.

He sighed again and looked gruffly at the pile of papers and scrolls he had yet to look at, no matter how good he was at what he did, he left his desk clear every night, but it was always filled with frustrating huge piles of papers, files, dossiers and scrolls in the morning, it was infuriating.

A knock was heard from outside his door and he grumpily muttered a 'come in' while taking a dossier from the pile of paper work.

"Leader-sama." The group of 4 shinobi greeted and bowed politely, he sighed again and opened the dossier.

"What is it?" his patience was running low today, but no one seemed to mind his dark moods.

"We came for the new missions." The one at the front spoke, and he pretended he wasn't aware of the looks the group was sending his way, their eyes examining Kyuuki, who was casually sitting on his lap while doodling some more, and was also grinning happily.

With an irritated sigh he dug into a drawer to his right, still looking over the dossier in front of him, and took out a few scrolls. He lay them in front of himself, between the 'done' pile of paper work and the 'yet to be done' pile of paper work.

"Scroll retrieval scroll, B-rank." He pointed at the first scroll. "Information gathering, C-rank. Assassination, B-rank. Capture and scroll retrieving, A-rank." He pointed at each of the 4 scrolls individually as he spoke, his eyes still focused on the oh-so-boring document in front of himself.

Once again, he pretended he didn't hear the small talk the 2 shinobi in the back were having about the small little girl, although, he had to give the quiet one some credit for his guts.

"Leader-sama, may I ask something?" he glanced at the man, he seemed the youngest of the group, probably a recent jounin, 16, 17 tops.

"Hn?" the boy looked uncomfortable as he rubbed the back of his neck and took a few steps closer. His companions were suddenly very quiet, observing him as if he was crazy.

"Well, please don't be offended, but, I'm curious." He looked at the small girl, his eyes holding curiosity and dread. "Is that— I mean the little girl —" He gulped nervously. "— Is she your, hmm." He averted his gaze from Kyuuki and himself and then asked the question he hadn't suspected would come. "Is she your daughter Leader-sama?" his question came out with incredible bravery as he faced him head on, the boys' light brown eyes fearful, but mainly curious. He really had to give him credit for his guts.

"I mean— well, it's just that she has some, hm, features that, well, you have, and… hm… I'm sorry if I offended you or spoke of something I shouldn't have." The boy bowed, an embarrassed blush on his face as he kept quiet, waiting for him to speak.

But in all honesty, he didn't really know what to say, so he avoided the answer completely and changed the subject.

"It is none of your business." He stated and the boy straightened, though he kept his eyes down, the embarrassed blush becoming darker.

"I apologize." The boy mumbled regretfully.

"Although I admire your courage to ask the question, when others simply speculate behind my back." The boy lifted his gaze, clearly surprised by his words. He kept his eyes on the boring dossier on the desk and took one of the 4 scrolls he had laid out between the 2 piles of papers, the B-ranked scroll retrieval one, and put it back in the drawer, the scroll could wait, its contents were codified and would take more than 3 months to decode by the best decoders when they didn't have the key to it.

He glanced up at the boy, meeting his still surprised (for the previous words) gaze with a carefully blank one.

Without a word he reached for the 3 scrolls on the desk and threw one at each of the 3 shinobi behind the teen.

"You're dismissed." He told them, his eyes having gone back to the dossier in his hands.

"W-what about me Leader-sama?" the boy asked quietly, starting to sulk.

He looked up at the boy and then at the 3 other shinobi that were still there.

"I didn't dismiss you." He stated offhandedly, and the 3 others took the hint and walked out of the office. The boy tilted his head and gulped, fearing something bad would happen to him for his previous outburst (that wasn't quite and outburst, just plain curiosity poured out).

"How old are you?" of course that he wouldn't do what he had in mind so easily.

"17." The boy answered quietly, still nervous.

"Were you born in this village?" the boy shook his head, his nervousness lowering.

"I was born in a small village in the border of the Waterfall country with the Rain country." He nodded once, gaining interest.

"What about your family?" the boy smiled sadly, looking down.

"My mother died when I was still a baby, I don't know my grandparents, or if I still have them." He took a deep breath and looked up. "My father brought me here, but when I was 9 he was killed on a mission by rogue nins." The boy smiled sadly again. "I'm all alone." He whispered and then grinned. "But I don't mind, I can take care of myself well enough." He knew how painful it was to be all alone in such an unfair world.

"Where do you live?" the boy tilted his head again, the nervousness seemingly gone as the casual talk kept going.

"Downtown, the cheapest apartments are there." He muttered the last part while averting his eyes.

"What's your rank?" the boy grinned.

"I've been a jounin since lat year." He sounded proud of himself, and he let a small, tiny smile for the boy's achievement, he knew how hard it was to be successful when you had no one.

"What's your name?" the boy seemed lightly taken aback but then grinned and bowed.

"Tsukiakari Yukizora." Yukizora meant snow-laden sky while tsukiakari meant moonlight, not a bad name.

"May I ask why you're questioning me Leader-sama?" the boy was defensive again. He smirked and looked back at the dossier (goddamit it was so boring).

"Go pack your things and get out of your apartment." He glanced at the boy to see him with the fear and dread in his eyes again. "I'm not throwing you out." He sighed and then his smirk returned. "You're just getting an, let's say it that way, improvement in lifestyle." He looked at the boy pointedly. "Now get going and come back in 2 hours." The boy now seemed delighted, a wide smile planted on his face.

"Thank you Leader-sama!!" the boy exclaimed, and he rolled his eyes.

"It's Sasuke." He muttered and waved a hand dismissively to the boy, who bowed politely.

"Then I'll be going Le— I mean Sasuke-sama!!" he let another small, tiny smile out at the boy's happiness as he left.

"Ne, ne, I like him, he seems nice." He looked down at the girl who had been quiet the whole time and raised a brow at her innocent eyes. She then got up on his knees, her plushie held tightly against her side.

"Ne, am I annoying you?" she asked quietly, her eyes wondering and afraid. He sighed and shook his head, he was more annoyed at himself, really.

"Then, hm…" she fidgeted with the hem of her baby-blue T-shirt (that Hana had so kindly bought as well as a full wardrobe with the money he gave them for organization purposes). "Do you like me?" he tilted his head at her quietly mumbled words and, after a few seconds nodded.

She looked at him with truly happy eyes and then hugged him so tightly he though he would have to hold his breath so he wouldn't force his throat to work.

"Daisuki wa!!" she cheered, and with a low sigh and rolling his eyes he wrapped a loose arm around her, a gratified and content smile plastered on his face to his growing annoyance and frustration at himself. But he still felt lighter, no matter what.

**(A/N: Daisuki wa means I like you very much. I think I built the sentence right.)**

* * *

"Let me get this straight." The blond woman narrowed her eyes at the blond Hokage. "Now we have to wait 2 days while doing nothing?" Naruto shrugged.

"Yeah, we kinda got here early so… yeah, we have to wait." Ino sulked.

"You gotta be kidding me, and we don't even know where the closest village is." She slumped down in the log she was sitting and sighed. "Just great."

"There's a natural hot spring a mile east." Neji spoke casually, clearly tired of all her bitching about having to wait almost 2 full days to move further.

Ino had been bitching about waiting 2 days in the forest for the last 5 hours, so everyone was getting saturated of her whines, even the oh-so calm Kazekage.

"Right. Why don't we go Ino? That way you can relax while the guys prepare the camp, a fire and get some food for tonight." Tenten spoke, also tired of hearing Ino complain.

"Well…" Ino trailed off and then grinned. "Let's go!!" she cheered and grabbed Tenten, then dragging her away towards the hot spring Neji had mentioned.

Tenten rolled her eyes and gathered her patience, telling herself that it was for the sake of everyone, so nothing bad would start happening.

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed, I'll try to make the next chapter longer, I promise!! I hate it when i do short chapters, but it's better to post something short than to make you guys wait lkonger for just a bit more text!!**

**Please let me know what you think, constructive criticism is always apreciated, it's thanks to that criticism that I've been improving my writing and gotten better!! I hope that, someday, I'll be able to reach the level of some of my favourite authors like, for example, _CrAzY-SiLLy-Me_, _Lady Hanaka_,** **_Tasha Ashes_,** **_AGENT SYDNEY_ and** **_LadyofTheDarkSky_. they're awesome authors, and i love their work!! if you don't know them, you should go and take a look!!**

**I had something to say, but since i totally forgot, I'll end my final author's note now...**

**Oh, I'm still considering getting a Beta, anyone who would like to be, just let me know!!**

**I also apologize if there are any gramatical errors that i missed.**

**Well, you should know I love you all by now, very much at that!!**

**Kimi-chan!!**


	20. Chapter 20

**I'll start by apologising for the wait, i've had this stupid stupid and frustrating block, but it's starting to get better, though i had to work on this chapter almost a week to get it done, i just... well, no excuses, so I'll just let you enjoy it!**

**In this chapter i decided to develop some of the ficticional characters, because, even if they're not from the anime or manga, they still have some importance for the plot. I'd like my dear to tell what they think about Kaorin and Jin!!**

**oh, also, tell me what you think about Yukizora, you'll who it is when you finish the chapter!! I really like my new character, and i think, not sure yet, he'll have an important role when confronttations happen.**

**I'm sorry if you were ocunting on some news from Naruto's group, b ut i'm out of ideas for them, so i didn't write anything, i'll try in the next chapter.**

**Please review, it makes me really happy when i get reviews!! and it makes me wanna work faster!!**

**I think i still had a few things to say, but... i forgot... XD**

**Anyway, enjoy and tell me your opinions, what you'd like to see happening, if you like it, etc, all thise things!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters of the anime/manga, Masashi Kishimoto has that previlege! As for the ficticional characters, they're the produsct of my imagination!**

* * *

**Chapter 20**

He sighed and glared at the pile of paper work on his desk, why wouldn't it just disappear? And the contents of the documents were sooooooo boring, how could people make a big deal out of a vending machine? Please, couldn't they just focus on more important things?

…Apparently not, and it pissed him off. But what pissed him off even more was the fact that he couldn't complain about his paper work or he'd start being called a slacker, not to his face obviously, but still, he hated it when people started speculating and talking behind his back, it was annoying.

And then there was the small girl on his lap.

He rubbed his temples and maneuvered the clipboard of papers to the 'done' pile of paper work. In an hour and a half, on the good side of things, he had taken care of most of the paper work he had had to do, now having just a dossier and a couple of document to go through. On the not so good side of things, which was annoying him immensely, more because of himself than the girl actually, but anyway, the point was that Kyuuki had fallen asleep, plushie tightly held against her side ad she clutched his shirt with the other hand, not letting go for anything. And then she was snuggled on his lap, her small, tiny body pressed against his chest as she slept.

He sighed again and looked up at the ceiling, what was happening to him? Why was he… like this? Allowing small gaki to do what they pleased with him, wanting things he knew he couldn't have, getting ticked off by his own henchmen's actions with the twins.

Something was definitively wrong with him.

And then there were his henchmen, well, Ruki stayed out of the equation, but even Jin. They all questioned him about the twins, about if they were his, and he honestly got confused with that, sure, Sai and him had a few resemblances, but it was just the dark hair and eyes, nothing else.

They didn't resemble each other enough for Hana to comment with Kisame that the twins had some facial traits that resembled his own.

Sai and himself didn't resemble each other enough for Kaorin to comment with Ryo that the twins made some facial expressions that resembled some of his own.

He and his replacement didn't resemble each other to the point where Kai asked Deidara if the twins were his due to their personality, that he knew of, Sai didn't have a personality.

Sai and him didn't resemble each other to the point where Jin told him straight on that, not knowing the story behind it all, the kids could be his own.

Everything was starting to make less and less sense, she was living with the emotionally retarded ANBU, she had kids. It didn't make any sense.

And now even someone that was seeing Kyuuki for the first time thought she was his daughter. What was wrong with everything, was he missing some importing piece of information that incapacitated him from understanding everything? Was there someone trying to mess with his mind?

Everything seemed so messed up, and something came floating into his thoughts.

"_Stop thinking of only yourself and look around, maybe you'll find something interesting."_

"_You're acting like an idiot, you're drowning in your own self misery and you can't even see the most simple and important thing in front of you."_

"_Just look at everything from a critical point of view, it's not everything about you."_

"_What you're doing is a mistake, you shouldn't be so irrational just because things aren't like you wanted."_

"_Think about it, don't let your misery cloud your mind, look at what's in front of you."_

"_You're being a complete moron, can't you just see it?"_

The thoughts kept repeating themselves, what his brother had kept telling him, what was he supposed to see? What? He wanted to see it, so why couldn't he?

Damn it. Damn it. _Damn it._ _Damn it._ _**Damn it.**_ Why couldn't he see?

He was distracted from his thoughts when the small girl shifted, pressing her face more into his ribs and mumbled something inaudible. He strained his ears and listened more closely to her quiet mumbles.

She tightened her grip on his shirt and didn't say anything else, and that made him sigh. With a glare directed at the papers he still had to look at, he took the ones on top of the pile, making sure not to move too much to not wake up the sleeping girl.

He opened the file with a resigned sigh and started scanning the contents, another boring compilation about something unimportant that only contributed to his growing annoyance and headache.

"…mama stills loves papa…" he stopped reading the annoying file and looked down at the snuggling girl with curious eyes, he had caught her quiet mumbled words, but what meaning was he supposed to take from them? He had no idea, and somehow, he let himself get lost in his mind as he watched her sleep.

"A-anou, did I come in a bad time?" he looked up to see the boy from before looking nervous and flustered as he looked down, the door still opened behind him.

"No, it's ok." The boy looked up, looking relieved and closed the door, then walked closer to the desk.

"Ne, you work really fast Sasuke-sama, you had a huge pile of work 2 hours ago." He raised a brow at the teen and shrugged lightly.

"It's annoying." The boy tilted his head and nodded.

"What did you want me to come for Sasuke-sama?" he was defensive again, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. He smirked in amusement and put the file down, then leaning back on his chair. He took his time to answer and looked the boy up and down.

He was wearing normal shinobi gear, looking slightly used, but still in good conditions, black pants that stopped on his mid-calf, navy blue shinobi shoes, a fishnet shirt under a black T-shirt and a navy blue jounin vest (he always thought the green vest were, well, not cool, navy blue was much better). The boy wore his hitai-ate on his right upper arm, a weapons pouch on his right thigh, another pouch secured by his belt on his lower back.

After that he moved his gaze to the boy's face, not too young looking, the childish features having grown, but not too adult looking either, his traits were soft and well defined, and if he had to compare him to someone he knew or had known, he would probably say Akasuna Sasori… ok, so he hadn't technically known the guy, he had still seen his face on paper and when he had used the Mangekyou on Deidara and wandered through the blonds' memories.

The boy in front of him possessed soft features like those of the since-years-ago dead Akatsuki Sasori, though only that, and maybe the eye color, seeing as Sasori also had had brown eyes, not too light nor too dark, a nice wooden brown. But the boy wasn't Sasori, for instance, his features weren't as… puppet looking and his skin was more tanned than the Suna criminal. As for the hair color, it was completely different, the boy in front of him had light brown hair, lighter than his eyes, a nice honey color, not too light nor too dark. His hair was unruly and his bangs fell in front of his eyes slightly, and it wasn't that short, almost grazing his shoulders.

But enough comparing, the boy in front of him, for one, he wasn't a criminal, and for two, he wasn't Sasori. He was Tsukiakari Yukizora… so it was kinda of a girlish name, it passed.

"Sasuke-sama?" the boy was still defensive, but also curious and wondering why he had been called and told to get out of his current house.

"I told you I was giving you an improvement in lifestyle." He smirked and the boy blushed, fidgeting with the hem of his T-shirt again.

He shifted in his seat and shifted Kyuuki on his lap before continuing.

"You'll be tested in different ways other than battle and you'll be living on this building." The boy's jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

"T-this b-building?? A-as i-in t-the A-Akatsuki… hm… h-headquarters?" the boy stuttered his words, barely able to get them out.

"Is there a problem?" he raised a brow at the kid, and was taken aback by the teens outburst of joy. Then again, he was already expecting it.

"There's absolutely no problem, it's just so… so awesome!!" the nervousness and shyness was gone in an instant. "It's like… wow, my biggest dream starting to come true!! I've always dreamed of some day becoming one of the 10!! Wow!!" he rolled his eyes.

"For now you'll just be my assistant though." The boy nodded excitedly, and he grinned at the boy's happiness. He looked at the remaining paper work and decided to leave it for later, right now he would let the boy enjoy his happiness.

"How would you like to see your room and meet everyone?" the boy grinned from ear to ear, excitement and joy in his eyes.

"I'd love to Sasuke-sama!!" he exclaimed loudly, and he was surprised that Kyuuki was still sleeping comfortably.

* * *

She had to do something, she couldn't just let everything in stand-by because she was too scared and confused about what she had to do. Things weren't always easy, in fact, most of the times, things weren't easy at all, and the decisions we had to make could turn out to be good ones or bad ones, a 50/50 chance of things going fine.

You had to take risks in order to achieve something, and she was willing to take the risks, she just wanted everything to turn out ok, she wanted to clear everything with him, with everyone. It was time to let the truth out, to let everyone know what really had happened, her reasons to hide the truth and why she had made such decisions, it was time to stop pretending and let reality stop being a phony act, empty of truth and honesty.

She would confront him, she was just gonna wait a few more days, preparing herself mentally, because she knew whatever would happen would hurt, it wouldn't be a peaceful talk, she was sure of it.

And Deidara, Kisame and Suigetsu would help her. Deidara because they were friends, Kisame because she would bribe him with sake and Suigetsu because she was sure he would rather help her than to be brutalized, maimed and pummeled by her.

And at the end he would know the truth, he would know that she never betrayed him or broke her promise, just made what was necessary to protect everything. And when he understood he would have to at least apologize, because… because he had hurt her enough.

She had no idea how things would end, the only thing she knew was that she had lived a lie long enough, pretending, faking, lying, cheating on all her friends, betraying them. She would break all the lies and pretenses and he would have to understand, just like anyone else would have to understand, and the first person she would be begging for forgiveness when she went back to her home village would be Naruto, because, no matter what, he had always been there for her and he more than anyone deserved her honesty because he was her brother, her best friend… her sun in the shadows.

And so it was settled, she would wait a few days to prepare with Deidara, Kisame and Suigetsu, and then she would confront Sasuke. And things would be alright… or so she hoped.

* * *

He looked around the room and narrowed his eyes, there were people missing and he didn't like it, especially since everyone should be there. So where the hell were those 4? Deidara was still out, even though Suigetsu was already back, and Kai and Ryo were Kami knows where with Ryuuki.

He sighed in frustration and looked over his shoulder and the blushing, nervous boy behind him, almost hiding.

Before doing anything, he looked around the room, analyzing everyone.

Hana was sitting in the couch with Kaorin, they seemed to be having a happy conversation since Kaorin was smiling. Jin was off in the windowsill, still not having apologized to Kaorin, the kid was a really stubborn one, looking outside. Ruki was sitting on an individual couch reading a book, _'the glory of number'_ it read in the cover, probably something boring. Suigetsu was talking with Kisame and Jugo while they sat in another couch. Tobi was sitting in the floor in front of the low table and was drawing, seriously, the guy really must be bi-polar.

He sighed again, Kai and Ryo were probably out and Deidara was probably with his best friend.

He cleared his throat and gained everyone's attention, except, of course, Suigetsu's, who kept talking with Kisame. His eye twitched at the water addicted nin.

"Ahem." Strike two, Fail.

"Will you shut up already." Suigetsu shut up mid-sentence and looked over his shoulder at him.

"Oh, you were there? Sorry, didn't see you!" the water nin grinned and scratched the back of his head, which made him roll his eyes.

"I got myself an assistant." He announced it offhandedly and stepped aside for everyone to see the 17 year old, still blushing and looking down.

The boy quickly looked up and then bowed deeply.

"It's an honor to meet you." He said quietly, the blush seemingly permanent on his cheeks.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, the kid needed some confidence lessons. Well, he would have to learn it while living with Akatsuki, they weren't exactly normal people.

"I suppose you know their names." It wasn't a question, a statement really. The boy looked up at him and nodded. "Then introduce yourself." The boy nodded again, blushing more, now in embarrassment.

"I-I'm Yukizora." The boy said quietly, bowing again.

"You got yourself a kid with no confidence whatsoever." Suigetsu started his unnecessary remarks. "What is he? A genin or somethin'?" the boy's head shot up.

"I am not a genin, I'm a jounin." He sounded outraged by the assumption. "And I'm a good one at that." He mumbled under his breath, so he also had a feisty side, huh? It would be fun.

"Don't mind him, he's just an idiot." The boy turned around abruptly to face a grinning Kai, his orange hair unruly and his green eyes shining in amusement.

"OY!" Suigetsu yelled, only to be ignored.

"But he's not the worse one." The comment was followed by the owner of the voice stepping into the living room carrying a sleeping boy in his arms. "Just ignore them." Ryo said offhandedly and looked around, purple/grey eyes scanning the room.

"Yup." Kai agreed while crossing his arms behind his neck.

The boy seemed confused for a moment, then he blushed a deep red, his face resembling a tomato. In return, Kai started laughing, then he walked closer to the boy and slung an arm over his shoulders.

"If you're Kami-sama's -insert Sasuke rolling his eyes here- assistant you gotta have some confidence, got it?" the boy nodded slowly, still blushing, and Kai grinned. "Don't worry 'bout a thing 'kay? Me and Ryo'll tour you around when Deidara get's back." A grin broke into Ryo's face as he walked closer to them.

"Just don't let yourself get pushed around by Ruki or Jin." Ryo voice turned into a whisper. "Especially Ruki. Jin has a personality a little like Sasuke there, but Ruki's more of a 'I've-got-a-stick-shoved-up-my-ass-so-don't-even-come-near-me' kinda bastard." The boy nodded, a grin making it's way to his face as he relaxed considerably.

And then his gaze settled on the small boy on Ryo's arms, and Sasuke found out that the teen was very observant.

"Ne, is that the little girls' twin?"

* * *

She sat on the balcony railing, looking at the city below. Long raven black hair flowed with the wind as sapphire blue eyes fought to hold the tears in. Her fingers clenched over the hem of her shirt and her feet pressed against the railing.

She should be over it, but she wasn't, it still hurt, being used by someone you care deeply about still hurt. And no matter how many times she told herself that it didn't matter, that it shouldn't matter, it still did, and it still hurt, made her heart clench, made it seem as if someone kept stabbing her over and over again.

Why did she have to care so much about someone that her best friends labeled 'Teme'? Why did she have to lose herself in his sapphire blue eyes every time he looked at her? Why did she have to stop breathing every time he touched her?

Why did her heart have to go wild when he was close to her?

They had known each other since they were small kids, but he hadn't always been like this, cold, uncaring and ruthless. Once upon a time he had been sweet and caring and gentle. Once upon a time he had been a mixture of Kai and Ryo, he had been goofy and cool, he had cared about others, he had been… so much… and now…

A slow tear ran down her cheek.

She remembered when they were kids, he used to go to her house and then drag her out, a goofy grin on his face. She always asked him, confused, where he was taking her, but he never answered, just kept on grinning and dragging her through the streets or the forest. And then they would play together, or train, though he was always never serious about training, always goofing around and getting into trouble.

She missed his grins, she missed his laziness, she missed the boy he had been. She even missed his moronic jutsus, the ones he created while he goofed around.

Like his Raiton: Shiden Onna, which was basically what it meant, Lightning element: purple lightning woman. He would use his skills with lightning and make a woman out of it, a purple one.

Another tear slid down her cheek.

He hadn't even been able to made a proper bushin when they were at the academy, she had scolded him and hit him so many times before he actually did a proper bushin, but every time she scolded or hit him he would only grin, it she hit him he would grin goofily after nursing his head and yelling something in the lines of _'ITAI!! What was that for?'_.

And then his moronic attempt at making a 'super-cool-and-awesome' fire technique, which had resulted in him being engulfed in a thick wave of black smoke, and when he had gotten out, coughing, he had been all covered in black ashes, from head to toe, even his blond spikes had been black.

Another tear. And another. And another.

She missed him, she hated the person he was now, because when before he had always beat up others for hurting her, now he was the one to hurt her.

A sob escaped her lips and she covered her mouth with her hands, the tears were sliding freely down her cheeks, and she hated being like this because if he saw her he would only tell her to stop being pathetic, because he wasn't caring anymore, now he was ruthless.

And the fault was all of the Raikage, because if it wasn't for his decision, Jin would still have his family, she would still have her family, and they wouldn't have had to run away. They would still be in Kumo, their parents would scold them for running around all day, he would still be the moronic and goofy Jin she had fallen in love with, and, maybe, just maybe, he would have fallen for her too, and they would be together, and he would still care about her feelings.

The only thing she could thank for was the fact that Sasuke-sama had taken them in, even if he didn't show it, when he had told them to become Akatsuki, he had cared because not everyone would take in Chuunin that had ran away from home after such a thing happened, and they hadn't even been the best Chuunin there was. They had only been 13/14, Jin had been the screw-up and she had been the shy girl. They hadn't been excellent shinobi, just mediocre ones, not near the good ones, the Raikage didn't even send them on higher missions than C-rank or the easiest B-ranked ones, when everyone else of the ones they had been in the academy with already went on A-ranked missions. And to cover it all, they didn't even had a high rating of success, because sometimes, what looked like something was something else and they ended up doing something else, and the mission was a failure.

They had abandoned the village just a few months after the Chuunin exams, because they lost everything. In a way, they had done something similar to Sasuke-sama, only for different reasons.

She was sobbing now, and the tears wouldn't stop falling, even if she had her eyes closed tightly. She wanted to stop crying, but she couldn't, because it hurt too much. And because she wanted _her_ Jin back, not the monster he was now.

"Why are you crying?" she choked on a sob, but refused to look back, it would only hurt more when he would insult her and then walk away.

"Kaorin." He called her name, but she ignored, why couldn't he just leave her to her misery? Didn't he at least understand that he only made things worse.

She froze when warm arms wrapped around her waist from behind and his breath fanned over her neck.

"Why are you crying Kaorin?" he rested his head on her shoulder, trying to see her face, but she looked away.

"Go away Jin." As much as she had liked it to come out coldly and filled with venom, it came out as a broken sob, the tears still running down her face.

"What's wr-" she cut him off and pushed him away.

"It's your fault." Another sob. "It's your fault, all yours." She got off of the railing and into the veranda, still refusing to face him.

He came closer to her again and turned her around, and the coldness in his blue eyes only made her break even more.

"What is my fault?" he demanded harshly.

"You used to care." She yelled, and she noticed he was taken aback. "You weren't ruthless, you cared about others." His hands on her shoulders tightened their grip and his eyes turned even colder, his face carefully blank.

"You used to be like Kai and Ryo, now you're-" he cut her off harshly.

"Am what?" she bit her lip and swallowed the sob that had been ready to come out. She freed herself from his grasp and took a few steps back from him.

"You're what you hated so much." She spoke softly, her arms wrapped around herself in a protective gesture. Her eyes lowered to the floor.

"You used to beat up the ones that hurt me." With all of her courage she glared at him, with all the anger and frustration she felt for him.

"Now you're the one who hurts me, and you don't even care do you?" she didn't wait for him to answer, she just turned away and walked back inside, at least now he knew what she thought, even if he didn't want to know or couldn't care less about it. It still felt nice to take it out, even if now she knew that she would stay broken.

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed, please let me know your opinions!! Reviews make me really happy!!**

**The story is reaching an end, the secret, which was the main thing of the plot, will be revealed, and after that i think i'll only make another chapter and a prologue or something, just so my beloved readers'll know how everything works out for everyone.**

**oh, BTW, please tell me what you think about the new Akastuki members!!**

**I love you all very much,**

**Kimi-chan!!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Oh My Fckin' Kami, it's been almost 2 months since my last post...**

**bows deeply I am so very very sorry, i really am, really really really deeply sorry for the long wait.**

**and to cover it all, i can't get new ideas to make the chapter bigger... OMFG, i should really work harder so i can give you guys an ending and so i can revise the first chapter 'cause really, the first chapters really aren't great, i could almost say they suck, or at least that's what i think now, i have to say that it's kinda normal since they're from when i started writting fanfics, so...**

**Anyway, I'm really sorry, this long wait started with a really boring-with-no-internet-access-and non-inspiring 3 week vacation with my dad. Then, when i got back, i tried writing, but nothing came-- mothe'fckin' block of ideas for this story... and for my other one too... sigh**

**Let's see what's next-- hmmm thinks... well, then i got addicted to the manga Ouran High School Host Club, and i just had to read all the chapters there are-- can't wait for chapter 65!! the manga's awessome BTW, you should read it, it's from Hatori Bisco.**

**There's also the new manga from the awesome people who did Death Note, the author Ohba Tsugumi and the artist Obata Takeshi, it's really awesome!! and it's got nothing in common with death note-- except the author's it's called Bakuman, for those who are interested in checkin' it out.**

**Oh, Ouran High comes out monthly while Bakuman comes out weekly-- like Fairy Tail, another great manga i got addicted to and is really awesome from Mashima Hiro...**

**enough about manga and stuff, i'm sure you're all wanting me to just shut up so you can read the chapter-- soooooo go ahead and tell me what you think about this chapter, i actually like it, though i really wanted to make it longer...**

**sigh please reaview, even if it's just to call me a baka fo not updating for so long... also, i'm still considering taking a beta-reader, if you're interested, just tell me.**

**Disclaimer: Really, if I owned Naruto I wouldn't be here, Naruto and all of it's characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

**REVIEW PLEASE!!**

* * *

**Memo:**

**- Hana: shoulder blade long light brown hair, brown eyes. Akatsuki's medic.**

**- Kai: spiky orange hair, green eyes. Puppeter, can use super strength when he gets really serious or is in a pinch.**

**- Ryo: black bluish short messy hair, dark purple/grey eyes. Can use water jutsus, and when needed can use snow and ice jutsus without having a kekkai genkai.**

**- Ruki: shoulder length long golden blond hair, golden eyes. Can use earth based jutsus. Has a very calculative mind. (think of Ed from FMA)**

**- Kaorin: long raven black hair, deep blue eyes. Can use Fire and Wind jutsus.**

**- Jin: blond hair in spikes at the back of his head, deep blue eyes. Can use Fire and Lightning jutsus. (his hair is kinda like Sasuke's, but for a better image, check Jin from 666 satan)**

**- Ryuuki: short spiky raven black hair, dark emerald green eyes with tints of onyx.**

**- Kyuuki: long raven coloured hair with some dark pink, almost red, highlights, and onyx eyes with a tint of dark emerald green in it.**

* * *

**Chapter 21**

Things weren't always what they seemed. Sometimes (a lot of times) what seemed like something was, in reality, the complete opposite, and when you thought you knew something, it turned out to be something completely different.

You made plans, decisions, and when you saw the results you realize it was nothing like you had expected, because, in the end, it wasn't like you expected from the beginning, and from then on out, it was all downhill. And all because the something you saw wasn't what was really there.

But, sometimes, you can also get lucky and, even with the wrong information, make the right choices and decisions and end up with a good result.

Either way, it's a 50/50 chance of things going wrong, because, no matter what, it's best to keep in view the bad outcomes than the good ones. If we keep the worst in sight and the best happens we won't be crushed like when we keep the better in sigh and everything goes wrong.

* * *

He walked down the dark corridors of the main Akatsuki headquarters. When he had first walked through the same corridors years ago, the feelings he had perceived from them was of coldness, indifference and ruthlessness. But, that had been years ago, when Akatsuki was ruled by profit, greed and the lust for power and having the world at their feet.

Years had passed indeed.

He couldn't say that these same corridors now held something akin to warmness and good memories and all the good stuff like sunshine and happiness and all of that… but he could say, with all certainty, that it held the feeling of home for those who lived in the building. It was their home.

Their home, a place where they were accepted, felt safe and protected, felt good with themselves for protecting and being protected.

The corridors of Akatsuki didn't held warmness and sunshine and good ol' memories like a regular home would, but they still had a certain good feel to it, because, when years ago, it had been greed and lust for world domination to seep into the very core of the building and surroundings, now it was ruled by the need to protect and prove one's worth, and that… that was what made such a haunted place in the past be 'home' for so many people in the present.

It wasn't that he wanted to make himself the good guy in the story and say that he was the reason such a place now felt like home. No, he would never do that, because it wasn't the truth.

The truth was that, yes, he had taken over Akatsuki, throwing Pein off of the 'throne' and made Madara powerless towards the organization, but he wasn't the one who turned the headquarters into a home, he wouldn't have been able to do it, not the way he had been.

A sigh escaped the raven haired man's lips as he put his hands in his pockets and kept walking with no particular place in mind, he was just wondering around.

The firsts that contributed to turn Akatsuki into a home were Jin and Kaorin. He had been wandering around near the Lightening country border with the Fire country and had stumbled into them, not literally of course, around 3, almost 4 years ago.

They had been 13 and 14, almost 14 and 15, Jin being older than Kaorin. At first he had just watched. At the time he couldn't brag about their abilities, they were, so to speak, screw-ups. Fresh Chuunin that probably didn't rank too high in success of missions and didn't have the power and skill to go on higher ranked missions. But there had been something about them, something so familiar about the way they acted, Jin non-caring and distant and Kaorin always trying to cheer him up, even if she wasn't all happy herself. In the end, she just wanted to see Jin smile.

But besides the obvious, he had seen in them potential, maybe, now that he thought of it, like Kakashi had seen in Naruto.

And so he had approached them, talked to them and asked them to join Akatsuki, what Kai and Ryo would later call 'Akatsuki's new generation'.

He had trained them both, Jin with his fire and lightning, and Kaorin with her lightning, since he couldn't do much about her skills with wind, about that he just gave her advice and told her what he knew about it, giving her as many books about the subject as he could find.

As the months went by, he realized why he had taken it upon himself to take care of them, they reminded him of his past, of Naruto, himself and… Sakura… and, sometimes, when Jin and/or Kaorin achieved something, he felt as if he knew how Kakashi felt when they, Team 7, accomplished something. At the heart of it, it was a good feeling, a feeling of pride.

Then, 2 and half years ago he had 'gotten' Kai. Honestly, why all of the people that surrounded him became missing nins, he didn't care, it wasn't of his business, and so he didn't ask.

Kai, who was 1 year younger than him, had been a very anti-social character, not wanting communication, he hadn't been his regular goofy self, all because he didn't trust people.

But besides everything, Kai had joined nonetheless, and he soon found out that Kai, after starting to trust others again was a lot like Naruto, only less obnoxious, but just as goofy. He was also a good friend and he enjoyed his company, goofy, but also serious when needed.

A few months later, while on a mission to recover some info and scrolls with Kai they had met Ryo, a missing-nin from Kiri that, at the time, had been working as a bounty hunter for numerous yakuza's and such (and who the same age as Kai). At that time, 2 years and something ago, Ryo had been uncaring—no, not uncaring, disconnected from the world fit him much better. For some personal reason, he, like Kai, had stopped trusting people altogether, not finding any sense of morals or justice anywhere he went, he had disconnected himself from the world.

They had fought then, and even if Ryo lost, he was still a very talented shinobi, he had only been at disadvantage and hadn't been himself to use his full power.

Once again, Kai had proved to be a lot like Naruto, yelling at the dark haired man and even going as far as to call him and say, if he recalled correctly, _"You're just a coward idiot who has to wake up and look around, because, you know man, life isn't as sucky as you make it seem with all your emo crap and bullshit."_ He had grabbed his collar then and punched him (without chakra in his fists).

"_Everyone has problems, but, even if not everything can be fixed, if you trust others and have friends to help you, life gets easier and'll stop being hell, living day after day in misery. If you have friends and people who you trust and trust you back, you'll start living life normally, not a living nightmare you just want to wake up from or just die in."_ at that point Ryo had punched him back and yelled in his face. _"Then show me. Show me trust."_ It had been the only time he had seen Ryo yell so desperately—well, it had been the only time he had seen Ryo yell altogether.

But that meeting… Kai had changed Ryo, made him trust others again and freed Ryo from his nightmarish day-by-day life. Like Naruto had done with many.

After Ryo joined, 2 years ago, it had been Ruki. He had been alone when he faced the blond man that was his age, and only he knew how Ruki truly was, someone that hated seeing unfairness, someone that, on the inside was actually gentle. He just made himself seem like a complete ass because he didn't want anyone to know about it. Yes, he had a very calculative mind and could be a major bastard sometimes— which, by the way, he didn't like very much, especially since he was always trying to find something wrong in the way he managed the finances of the organization. Kai and Ryo had often asked him why he had 'taken Ruki in', and his answer had always been his skills, but that was just part of it, Ruki was someone that, he had found out, had grown up alone and hated by those who surrounded him, hence the fact he hid his true self and acted like an ass, and the gentle side of him was the reason he had asked him to join, because loneliness, he knew how it felt all too well.

After Ruki, a few months later, Hana had come into the picture. She was a talented medic, and Akatsuki was lacking one. Also, she was a very nice girl, 1 year younger than him, who wanted to help as much as she could, never asking for anything in return. He could say that, from everyone, she was the weakest of Akatsuki, but she was necessary, because she kept everything human, she was a great cook —since he wasn't about to cook for anyone other than himself… well, and maybe Ryuuki and Kyuuki… and Sakura— and she also kept everything clean.

Pein, —who he had labeled Akira- intelligence- because, yes, Pein was intelligent,— and Konan had stayed, not officially, but still remained on the organization. Pein hadn't wanted to, refused to even, but Konan had been reasonable and had been tired of all the fighting, and she had convinced Pein to back out, to take a more peaceful route, and that's what he did, even if he still liked to piss him— new and cooler leader of Akatsuki— off.

As for Kisame, he had been one of the few original members alive and hadn't made a big deal out of having a new leader _"As long as I can still have a good fight once in a while."_.

Then Tobi, or Madara… he swore the guy was bipolar, one minute he was all serious and shit and the other he was sitting on the floor doodling and mumbling happily. Hmm… now that he thought of it, Tobi was the goofy character and Madara was the serious, pain-in-the-ass one… double personality indeed… maybe? He couldn't be sure.

And then Deidara… he still wondered why he had made the blond come back to life using the tailed beasts chakras as to not have to use sacrifices, but, deep down he knew why after he had heard Fay's story. It had been before meeting everyone from the 'new generation', just after he had taken over the organization. Fay's bar was one of the best in town, if not really the best, and, on a day where only a few people were there, Fay had told him about his childhood, how he had watched his mother being raped and killed as well as his best friend's mother and twin sister— his girlfriend—, how his best friend had snapped and how the Kage hadn't done anything. And when he had finished his tale about them living in the Tea country afterwards and one day his best friend being forced into Akatsuki and developed a kind of hatred/passion to surpass Uchiha Itachi, he had understood who it was.

Maybe he brought Deidara back by remorse, or maybe because they had something in common, the passion to surpass his brother, but the truth was, he didn't regret it, never did he regret it. And neither did Deidara. Sure, at first he had been a pain in the ass, always looking for a fight with him, if not for Kisame, maybe the artist and himself would have had countless death matches, but Kisame had always stopped everything, because he knew his intentions and he understood Deidara.

And lastly there was Zetsu. After the new change in leader he had disappeared, taking with him important and crucial information about the tailed beasts. Zetsu, the plant-dude, like Deidara often called him, when he wasn't calling him more insulting words, had disappeared, and was the one he had been searching for years by now, he more often than not sent Pein and Konan when a lead appeared, but not once did they find him.

He took a deep breath and shook his head, what was it with him and going down memory lane lately? With a soundless scoff he called himself stupid, because he already knew everything, he didn't need to go back into the past.

He stopped suddenly and looked at the door to his left. A half smile settled on his face.

Of course, now he couldn't forget the new addition to the family, as he knew everyone considered the organization. Tsukiakari Yukizora, a young jounin from the very village he ran, someone he knew would one day become someone great, a hero for the townspeople maybe, because, even if the people thought highly of Akatsuki and what they did, Yukizora would be considered at a highest level, because he wasn't a missing-nin, like every other Akatsuki, and because he belonged to the Rain village.

Maybe he wasn't becoming soft because of the twins… maybe he had always been like this. That's the conclusion he reached as he walked to his room through the quiet and dark corridors of Akatsuki's main headquarters, home to many… home to him.

Maybe the twins… were just… it was like something stronger than him made him act like he did with the small kids… he just couldn't help it… being soft with them…

And, just maybe… Akatsuki… everyone's home (of the people in it)… could maybepossibly_hopefully_, become, some day, Kyuuki and Ryuuki's home.

It was a stupid wish, considering the situation, but he couldn't help himself from thinking it would be great it if happened.

* * *

_Colors… Blurs… Movements that could be well calculated or just improvised._

_The faint sound of the wind against trees and leafs, the cicadas singing somewhere that could be near or far away._

_A room, maybe… the contours of a window facing a cherry tree in full bloom, a full moon visible over the tree, silver as pink._

_A bed with what could be blue or green covers, 2 pillows on the same bed… possibly._

_The sound of a door opening or closing, somewhere that could be near… or far away._

_Steps that echoed, coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time._

_A warm breeze on her neck, something warm and soft touching the skin of her arm… someone's breath… someone's hand…_

_A manly body pressed against her back, something warm and soft-- lips on her neck… kisses from her neck to her cheek._

_Hands on her arms, her body turned… slowly or fast, she couldn't tell._

_Everything was a blur, colors, sounds and feelings… nothing else._

_The color of coal contrasting with a pale skin color was what she managed to see… again, just blurs of colors._

_The warmness on her arms—hands moved… one to her waist, the other to the back of her neck._

_She felt as if she was being held carefully, as if this person was afraid to break her… holding a porcelain doll._

_The same warm breeze—breath on her face, fingers—it could only be fingers— entangling in her hair._

_She tried to adjust, trying to see shapes and not just blurs… only to fail._

_What she presumed to be the head of the person—man— holding her lowered, warm breath now on her neck… she was only allowed to see a blur of coal— hair maybe, probably._

_He sniffed, but with such elegance that it could only be described as inhaling… the warmness— his hand on her waist moved up, what could only be fingers pressing her skin gently._

_She moaned, a low sound that came from somewhere she couldn't place… a sound that she hadn't intended to produce._

_The man pressed his face— it couldn't be anything else— to her neck, a satisfied sigh escaping his lips… breath running over her skin._

_It could have been a second or an hour… the time was a blur._

_The man lifted his head, a blur of coal and pale skin— beige was what it looked like._

_She couldn't make out any traits, couldn't say if she knew him or not… but something inside her— her instincts— told her she did._

_He lowered his head again… the hand in her hair tilting her head up with a delicacy that seemed almost surreal._

_Something warm touched her lips… warm, soft and a bit moist— his lips, it could only be._

_Her eyes closed instantly… body as if melting on the inside._

_Soft… gentle… tender… lips moving softly against her own._

_She kissed back… feeling something akin to comfort and protection in the man's embrace._

_Fingers ran over the skin of her back… softly, as if memorizing._

_And then she realized she was almost naked, the only thing she could feel over her skin was her panties._

_Her eyes opened… blurs of colors, no shape clear to her eyes._

_She looked around, and she wasn't in the room anymore... water surrounded her._

_The man wasn't holding her anymore… the shape of a tropical palm tree could be seen almost too clearly considering the blurry vision she had at the moment._

_Blinking a couple of times and inhaling a few times as well, she looked around._

_Time seemed to stop… as if it froze or had been frozen._

_The water was warm… she closed her eyes for a moment… a second… a minute… she couldn't tell._

_When she opened her eyes, feelings overwhelmed her._

_She was laying on something soft and comfortable—a bed. Warm hands— it could only be hands— were running over her skin. Open mouthed kisses were being placed on her neck— tongue— it could only be— licking as mouth sucked and teeth nibbled._

_She arched her body upwards… feelings overwhelming. A hard, chiseled, clearly male, chest pressed into her own... feminine, soft breasts pressed against a male, hard chest._

_Moan erupting from deep within, she threw her head backwards… eyes closed, mouth slightly opened as the male nibbled the flesh over her pulse._

_Hands ran over her heated flesh… sinful pleasure… sinful gestures._

_Her hands— on their own accord— moved to the man's broad shoulders… fingers pressing his skin, nails digging into the skin when feeling overwhelmed her too much._

_The comfortable feeling of the bed… suddenly replaced by the cool feeling of what could only be rock._

_Opening her eyes… night darker than darkness._

_Water around her, the man was still holding her… still kissing her… still touching her._

_One hand went to the back of her neck, fingers entangling into her hair… fist holding her hair in a tight grip._

_The other hand kept traveling lower… waist… right hip… lower… right thigh. In a sudden movement, almost aggressive— possessive of his hand… thigh brought up, leg almost forced to wrap around his waist._

_Hard chest pressing almost too much into her… almost forcing her into the rock. Hands holding tightly… almost painfully, but sinfully pleasurably._

_The hand on her hair tilted her head up, grip nearly too tight… fingers pressing into her scalp._

_Lips on hers… no softness. Aggressive… possessive… brutal._

_Wet tongue running over her lips… choked moan escaping her lips… tongue entering her mouth, moving against her own._

_Resistance turned into passion as she kissed with just as much passion as the man… hands on shoulders pulling him closer, as close as possible._

_The softness of a mattress returned… eyes reopened._

_He was gazing at her… calloused— and almost impossibly soft— hand caressing her cheek… left hand softly playing with her hair, elbow touching her shoulder._

_Pale skin against coal… or perhaps coal against pale skin._

_Beads of sweat perfectly visible over the blur of pale skin of the man's face… surreal… supernatural._

_Fingers of right hand moved from her temple to her cheek… carefully… gracefully… lovingly._

_The man lowered his head… kissed her temple gently as fingers lightly pressed against her— kiss bruised— lips._

_He inhaled again, head lowering to stop at her chest… breath fanning over her skin… hair tickling her skin… body weight carefully laid over her body._

_The warmness of his body… it felt sinfully nice. His heart beat rhythmically, thump after thump after thump… never faltering._

_His face was pressed to her chest, just above her breast… ear just a couple of cm above her heart._

_Fingers of one hand still in her face, as if memorizing… mesmerizing. Fingers of the other hand still playing with her hair… twirling and twisting softly. Like a child._

_Feminine but deceivingly strong arms wrapped gently around his shoulders… hands moving softly… fingers pressing gently. Soothingly. Comfortingly. Surprisingly lovingly._

_Dirty part of her mind worshiping the feeling of every part of his strong and lean body pressed against her own. Innocent part of her mind listening to his heartbeat, focusing on the simple, innocent movements of his hands. Her mind in general taking in the fact she had felt so good with just kisses and simple touches._

_The man sighed... blurs turned into clear shapes… breath running over her skin. A sigh that broke something… a spell._

_She closed her eyes for a second… time was normal again._

_When she reopened her eyes and glanced down, messy dark raven colored hair was what greeted her._

_His left hand kept playing with her hair… left one stopped— cupping her cheek, thumb over her lips._

"_Aishite imasu, ore no itoshii." A mere whisper against her flesh, yet it made tears come to her eyes and start running down her face.__**A/N: Aishite imasu means I love you; ore no means my, mine(ore is, usually, only used by boys); itoshii means beloved; ore no itoshii means my beloved**_

_When one of her tears ran between his fingers and her skin, he lifted his head and looked at her. Eyes the color of onyx gazed down at her, his fingers slowly cleaning tears away._

"_Why are you crying?" he sounded like a confused child, confusion shown in his eyes. Head tilted and raven locks falling forward._

_She shook her head, a smile on her face, and cupped his cheek. When she faced him again, she guided him forward, hand slowly making him lean forward until their foreheads were touching._

"_I'm happy!" she wasn't sure if she actually vocalized the words or just mouthed them silently, but the confusion disappeared from his eyes, being replaced by something she couldn't place._

_He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers briefly. After the tender kiss he laid his head back on her chest._

"_Then I'm happy." His whisper wasn't an exclamation, just a quiet affirmation, but it spoke volumes of what was behind it. "As long as you're happy." He concluded softly, in a whisper, as an afterthought._

_She smiled widely, tears of happiness still running down her cheeks._

"_Then say it again." She whispered, knowing he would understand. "Please." She just mouthed the word, and for a few moments she was confused as he rolled them over, sheet tangling over naked limbs._

_As she lay, confused, half over the dark haired man, front pressing into his side, hands now one behind his neck, the other over his chest, she glanced up at him but could only see his strong jaw._

_A few seconds passed, her confusion grew, until he pressed his cheek into her hair, inhaled, kissed the top of her head and then whispered the words._

"_Aishite imasu, ore no itoshii." She smiled widely, pressed herself more into him, closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. He smelled like a forest after it rained._

"_I love you too, Sasuke-kun!" he ran a hand over her hair, the other around her waist holding her as close as possible, protectively and possessively._

"_I know you do Sakura." She could feel his smirk, the smugness irradiating from him._

"_Self-conceited moron." She mumbled to herself, half-asleep, only to be lulled to sleep by the low vibration of his chest as he chuckled and twirled his fingers on her hair, just like a child._

* * *

Emerald green eyes fluttered open slowly, a peaceful and content smile on its owners lips as the person woke up.

She snuggled in her bed and closed her eyes again, going back to what she had been dreaming so contently. The baby blue thin sheet tangled on her limbs, restricting her movements, but somehow, she didn't mind as she recalled what she had previously been dreaming.

"Mmmm." She moaned to herself and pulled the sheet more into her, covering the lower half of her face with it and letting out a soft sigh.

"So nice…" she mumbled and then opened her eyes again. The curtains were slightly opened letting some sunrays come in, sunrays that came from above the white fluffy looking clouds fluttering on the clear blue sky.

With a silly, giddy and content smile on her face she disentangled her limbs from the sheet and got up, stretching and smiling wider as she walked to the window to open the curtains to a clear blue sky, partially covered in white cotton-candy clouds.

Somehow, this dream felt as if it had really happened, as if the words she had heard were real, and even if it was just a dream, she couldn't help the happiness and giddiness that settled on her whole being.

And after being consumed by masks, barriers, pretenses and lies for so long, it felt good to feel so happy again, even if she knew it couldn't last long, after all, there was so much that needed to be done, so many painful things.

As she dressed a blue denim skirt and a navy blue top she promised herself she would keep this happy feeling as long as she could and that she would do her best to get her twins back and straighten everything. She would tear down all the walls build of lies and pretenses and she would build new ones with only the truth and sincere feelings.

After all, it wasn't about having good cards to play but about playing the cards you had in hand well.

* * *

A vein popped in his forehead as he ran a hand over his blond spiked hair in annoyance.

The first reason was because he had to go on a mission like _this_ in the first place, didn't Leader know he could do better? But when he had questioned said Leader, his answer had been a raised brow, a gesture that clearly said _"got a problem with it?"_ so he had just scoffed and turned away.

The second reason as to why a vein had just popped in his forehead was the group he had to go on a mission with: Hana, nothing wrong with her; Kaorin, he'd rather not think about said girl; and Kai, who he felt like murdering right then and there.

That is, and that brings us to reason number 3, if said specimen of the human male species was there, because, ladies and gentlemen, Kai was late, and not just 2 minutes late, he was a full 6 minutes and 28 seconds late, and Jin was getting more and more irritated by the second.

The first reason for his irritation was, as surprising as it seemed, the fact that Kaorin and Hana had arrived at the gates of the village (where they had to meet before heading out) before he had.

The second reason for his irritation was the fact that Kaorin kept looking away from him, Hana kept glaring at him when Kaorin wasn't watching her, and both specimen of the human female species were on the other side of the gate talking to each other quietly.

And, finally, the third reason for his irritation was the orange haired, green eyed, _freakin' dumbass_ and 7 fuckin' minutes and 23 fuckin' seconds _**late**_ Kai. Who he felt like murdering, let's not forget that detail.

"Kao-chan!! Hana-chan!!" and the dumbass had arrived with a way too loud and way too obnoxious cheer of the name of the 2 females on the other side of the road.

But… Kai's obnoxiousness, loudness and dumbassness he could just ignore, that is, on regular circumstances, meaning: when the idiot wasn't yelling in his freakin' ears almost blowing up his eardrums.

Hard and cold glare in place directed at the obnoxious male—who seemed to be ignoring him— he followed the blob of orange, green and black with the almost deadly glare.

And then— insert another vein popping on Jin's forehead— the idiot looked back— after being near the girls— and gave him a skeptic look that said I-wish-you'd-die-already.

And that's how Jin— who had been feeling very strange since his last talk with Kaorin— started his trip to the border to go get the guests they would be hosting in their village.

The blond 18 year old sighed as he jumped to another branch, being ahead of the group obviously. Was it so hard to get a team that wasn't as troublesome as this one? And Leader knew they weren't on good terms. Stupid leader, what did he know anyway??

He mentally kicked himself, Leader never did anything without a purpose, he wondered what the purpose of this mission with this team meant? But really, the situation kept getting worse and worse, and he kept getting more and more pissed off and more and more with a very intense urge to maim and pummel Kai for the innuendos he kept throwing in his direction.

"_Fuckin' stupid godforsaken life."_

* * *

**_So, my beloved readers and reviewers, what did you think?? My favorite part is probably the last one, with Jin and all..._**

**_I hope you all liked it, i promise i'll make a chapter quickly._**

**_And since i don't feel like writing anymore, I'm just gonna post this already and stop bothering everyone._**

**_just one last thing I forgot to mention earlier, this chapter was dedicated to lauchoco92_ whose birthday was on the 27th of august!!**

**Happy late birthday!!**

**Love you all very much,**

**Kimi-chan!!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Ah man, it's been almost a month... -bows head- but I've been having this very frustrating, very annoying and very irritating block...**

**--' the plot bunnies have deserted me... please come back!**

**anyway, school started too, and i have to pay attention to maths 'cause i don't want to have to re-re-do it, so... and there's always homework-- gah**

**we all know school sucks, and would the plot bunnies please come back?? please?? i'll even give cookies and candy --'**

**back on track, I hope everyone enjoys, and, please, PLEASE, let me know what you think and also what you'd like see happening on further chapters, it's starting to be hard to write without my beloved bunnies.**

**well, enough rambles!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I'd be in Japan mingling with the author's of the awesome manga _Bakuman_. I just own the plot of the story!**

**ALso, PLEASE REVIEW!! (I'm so sad, I did a 16 pages chapter for my other fic, and i still don't have reviews for it -sniff-)**

**SO, PLEASE REVIEW, reviews make me happy and they make me want to write and update faster!!**

**WANTED: a beta-reader and my plot-bunnies back!!**

**ENJOY!!**

* * *

**Chapter 22**

_When had life ever been easy? Never, that's what probably anyone would reply._

--

Fay looked over his living room and wondered how his house had become something like a meeting base for many of the members of Akatsuki. But that wasn't what made him wonder, it was when and why had his house become such a meeting place, and to top it all, it was becoming, well, not awkward, but… strange, at the lack of other words.

On one side of the room, in one of the individual couches, looking quite relaxed, legs crossed, was Suigetsu, someone he had not actually been introduced to. Now how cool was that, you had guests, but you didn't even knew them. He blamed this on his Teme for a best friend (Deidara obviously).

Then, on the other side, were Hikari, he doubted Sakura, since he had heard Deidara call her that (though he kept playing along… for now), sitting next to Deidara. Now, that wasn't strange, they were quite the good friends, but Sakura, or Hikari, whatever, was glaring murderously at Suigetsu, who seemed to be ignoring, and Deidara was as far from her as he possibly could on the couch, snickering quietly. His distance could possibly mean he knew he was probably gonna get hit sometime, so the space was to evade.

But, honestly, Fay had absolutely no idea of how, why and when it had come to this…

Ok, so maybe he knew when (a few weeks ago) and why (because Sakura and Deidara were plotting something with Kisame, Kaorin and now Suigetsu), but How??

He looked over everyone and wondered, since all the plotters were here, where were Kaorin and Kisame? And since they were in a mood to meet, where were Jin, Kai and Ryo? Hey, and since they were at it, why not just gather the whole gang on his house? Note the sarcasm here.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and narrowed his eyes at all of them, they were in _his_ house (apartment, whatever), plotting under _his_ roof, _he_ was the host and, fuck it all to hell, _he_ wanted _**in**_ on their little conspiracy thing. (He blamed his longing and urge to participate on their conspiracy or whatever they were plotting, once again, on Deidara, who had always initiated the pranks when they were kids.)

So, with that in mind, he decided that he desperately hated to be in the dark when something (big or not) was going on under his roof. And so he acted.

"I'm getting sick of this." He announced, his frustration and irritation showing on his words. Good thing they actually heard him and turned to him.

"Whatcha talkin' 'bout Dobe?" he narrowed his eyes at his best friend.

"Is everything ok, Fay-san?" he frowned and then glared at Suigetsu, who shut his mouth before even saying anything (he was sure the guy was going to throw one of his unnecessary comments).

"This, whatever it is, that's going on in here." He glared at his best friend, who was about to question him. "You guys all stay quiet while I'm around, and when I'm gone you start talking to each other. When I come back, you instantly shut up. I may be blond, but I'm not dumb or stupid." Sakura, or Hikari or whatever, was about to talk, but he resumed.

"It's obvious you." He looked pointedly at the pink haired female. "Deidara, Kaorin, Kisame and now even this guy over there. " he pointed at Suigetsu. "By the way, thanks for introducing him." He added sarcastically and then resumed.

"It's obvious you all are planning or plotting,or whatever, something." And his suspicions were confirmed when Deidara avoided his gaze, Suigetsu kept unusually quiet and the pink haired female looked down.

"I want in." 3 heads lifted abruptly at his statement. "Either that or I'll kick you all out." As he finished, Suigetsu glared at him, and Deidara and Sakura shared a look.

And since no one seemed to want to talk, Fay did.

"Let's start by clearing a few things up, Hikari isn't your real name, and I know I said I didn't care, but now I do, so, real name please." His cool demeanor was gone, and he, once again, blamed his jackass attitude on Deidara, because said blond was the one who had the jackass attitude most of the time.

The girl lifted her head, biting he lower lip, locked gazes with him, and then looked away, still biting her lower lip.

She sighed heavily and then leaned back on the couch.

"This sucks." She muttered, and Fay raised a brow when she turned her head to look at him once again.

"I'll answer your questions, just don't stand there like a broomstick." Now that was a very different way of talking than the way she usually did, but since she had created a different name, she had probably created a different personality.

Like she had asked, he sat down on the individual couch next to Suigetsu's, arms crossed, and the jackass attitude still present.

"My name's Haruno Sakura." She declared once he was sitting down. He nodded.

"The famous medic that disappeared 4 years ago." He stated, and Sakura huffed and crossed her arms.

"People don't even say everything." Was her mumble before she continued, now addressing him.

"I didn't disappear, I just, kinda quit as a kunoichi." He raised a brow and she explained. "To take care of my twins." Now, that was something that surprised him.

"Fair enough." He nodded and then frowned again. "Then why in hell are you here? And plotting with that teme over all." He pointed (rudely) at Deidara (who exclaimed an annoyed Hey!) and watched as she sighed before answering.

"Let's see…" she mumbled. "Let's keep this simple, since it's a long story." She faced him head on, making eye contact with him, and he saw a fierceness he didn't knew woman possessed. "Sasuke kidnapped my kids. I want them back." She paused to let the words settle.

"O-kay… keep going, I'm sure there's more to it." She nodded and rolled her eyes.

"He's an ass, that's that." She mumbled, and Suigetsu and Deidara both chuckled, covering it with coughs when she glared at them both.

"He doesn't know, since he did something only a complete dumbass would do, and didn't ask, but they're his, and I lied to everyone, convincing them they were someone else's." she looked guilty as she confessed that.

"And now I want to clear things up and let everyone know the truth." She lifted her hands.

"And that's it. Surprise!" her attempt at humor was ignored as he pondered on her words.

There was heavy silence for a few minutes, in which Sakura looked at him fearfully, Suigetsu stared at the ceiling and Deidara stared outside, trying not to think.

"And?" the 3 looked back at him, confusing written all over their faces.

"Then… um, what?" Sakura asked uncertainly. Now it was his turn to roll his eyes.

"And, what's the plan?" he asked, a grin settling on his face.

Suigetsu looked inquiringly at her, Deidara bit his lip, observing her as well, and Fay waited, a grin still on his face. As for Sakura she bit her lip, joined her hands, fidgeted with the hem of her top and looked down.

And silence settled once again…

Heavy silence…

A silence that made Fay's grin vanish into a worried frown.

There was no plan.

They didn't have a plan.

And, oh shit, that was bad.

A cool breeze entered the room through the open balcony window, making the beige curtains move in soft waves at it did.

"I have an idea!" everyone looked out to the balcony in shock, to see Ryo, wearing black pants and a baby blue t-shirt, sitting on the balcony rail, hands on either sides of him as he leaned back and looked at the sky.

He looked down, a relaxed grin on his features.

"Those kids are just too cute to not want them happy!!"

* * *

"You called Sasuke-sama?" there was the sound of papers being shifted, but aside from that, nothing.

The blond 22 year old stayed quiet, standing a few steps in front of the desk, and waited for his Leader to tell him why he had been summoned.

The sound of papers shifting and being put in a pile was heard, followed by the sound of papers being lifted from another pile.

"Hana, Jin, Kaorin and Kai are gone to get our future guests." The blond nodded, waiting for the information that would concern him.

"Deidara and Suigetsu are gone, probably in town." There was a pause in which papers were shifted. "Jugo is probably in town too." The blond standing shifted his weight to his right foot.

"Tobi and Kisame went to get a few things to the River country." The blond felt the point of this conversation was coming, so he just put his hands in his pockets.

"As for Ryo, he went to get the groceries and will probably go meet with Deidara and Suigetsu." The blond nodded, knowing next Leader would probably tell him his task.

"Yukizora is taking care of some paper work and I have to do that as well." There was a pause and papers being laid in the wooden desk.

The sound of a drawer opening followed by a hand taking a pen out of it, the drawer closing. A slight pause, followed by the sound of Leader signing the papers.

"You're taking care of the twins until further notice." A pause to put the papers in the 'done' pile of papers (quite smaller than the 'to do' pile of paperwork).

"Keep them entertained." He blond tilted his head slightly but nodded nonetheless.

"You're dismissed Ruki."

"Hai Sasuke-sama." With that the blond turned around and walked out the office.

The sound of the door quietly opening was heard, followed by the sound of the door closing with a soft click.

After a couple of seconds, the Leader behind the desk huffed, taking a new stack of papers to go through and sign for approval or not.

"Fuckin' godforsaken paperwork."

* * *

_The thing about hiding yourself behind a jackass attitude is that, after you do, you can't just go back to your true self because too many people hate you and respect you for who they think you are._

_--_

Two sets of eyes blinked.

Once…

Twice…

Three times.

Two small kids, sitting on the bed near the pillows, stared at the door, heads tilted, one to the left, the other to the right.

They looked at each other, blinked and then stared back at the door again.

There was no cheer or nice words as they spoke for the first time.

"Where's Dei-nii-chan?" the blond at the door remained quiet, waiting and observing the small twins, trying to calculate his next actions.

"Why're you here?" they spoke at the same time, once again, and their tone was, at the lack of better word, cold.

So they didn't like him, huh?

Ruki took a few steps into the room, still having no idea of how to approach them, much less of how to entertain them, and looked around, looking for important details.

The room was simple, much like the others rooms of the base, and there weren't any personal things, only some clothes in the closet.

Golden eyes settled on the kids again, who were looking at him with a look that could seem made of ice taken from the deepest depths, and he mentally sighed, what was he going to do?

On further observation, he noticed the plushie the small girl seemed to never let go… he still wondered why leader had such a thing (clearly not made by himself), but didn't question it, everyone had their secrets and reminders of the past, something that connected them to something or someone special.

"We want Dei-nii-chan, so go away." They spoke together once again, and he found himself thinking they made a pretty tuned chorus.

He stayed standing by the foot of the bed, watching the small kids and wondering how he was going to do this.

So he decided on the first reasonably good idea that came to mind.

"Everyone else is busy." He paused slightly. "I'm the only one that can take care of you." The twins shared a look and then glared at him.

"Go away, we'll be fine alone." They were awfully coherent for 4 year olds.

"You two don't like me." He stated, and the twins frowned. "You probably have your reasons, but it's Leader's orders." The small twins narrowed their eyes at him.

"You're mean and boring and mean and we don't want you here." The twins whined. "Go away!!" and with that loud exclamation they turned their backs to him, arms crossed, as they faced their pillows.

Now this was going well. Joy! (note the sarcasm)

What did Deidara do?

Well, he fed them, played with them (which, Ruki noticed, allowed the other blond to goof around and be an idiot without anyone complaining because he was with the twins). Deidara also dressed them and… well, played with them.

Ruki sighed, what a nice job his was. (again, the sarcasm people)

Maybe food would work… hmmm, what did Deidara give them more often? Well… hm…

That's right, the blond morron gave them ramen, and they were always happy with it.

Maybe that would work… he honestly hoped so.

"How about ramen for lunch?" the twins glanced at him over their shoulders and then shared a look.

"Ramen?" they asked in chorus. Ruki nodded lightly. "But Sasu-nii-chan said we can't have ramen anymore."

Now that was good news for him, and it made a sly smile settle on his face.

"Sasuke-sama doesn't have to know, now does he?" he tilted his head as the twins stared at him, the ice cold stare gone.

"Really?" they chorused. He nodded again.

"Yatta!!" they cheered. "Ramen!! Ramen!! Ramen!!" they kept on cheering in a sing-song voice, jumping up and down on the bed.

"_Round one – over._

_Score - +1"_

Now that was good.

* * *

"This is boring." Whine.

"Shut up Naruto." Ignored.

"Let's do something fun you guys."

"Just up you idiot." Seething.

"Aww, man." Whine. "Anything would do." Huff.

"Shut the fuck up already." Through gritted teeth.

"You guys are no fun." Turns around and pouts.

Unlike the expected childish attitude (that had been going on since early morning) there was—

Silence…

More silence…

Some more silence…

It was around 3 p.m. and the Hokage had suddenly gone quiet, suspiciously quiet.

"What's wrong Naruto-baka?" her call was ignored as the Hokage suddenly spoke, finger pointing rudely.

"Oh my fuckin' Kami!!" that made the other 5 of the group curious, and they turned around to face what, or who, Naruto was facing.

Silence…

More silence…

Some more silence…

"Oh shit." The other 5 spoke at the same time.

"Oh fuck! The Teme's blond!" the blond Hokage pronounced in his usual loud voice, still pointing rudely at the blond standing on the other side of the clearing. Needless to say, said blond was containing himself from aggressing a certain obnoxious blond.

Laughter was heard (loud laughter at that), coming closer as an orange haired male came out from the shadows of the trees, laughing hard, holding his sides with one arm and pointing at the blond new comer rudely.

"Oh shit man!" Kai couldn't even speak properly as he kept laughing.

"Got mistaken with Sasuke-sama did ya?" came a sly feminine voice as a light brown haired girl erupted behind the orange haired (still laughing) male. The girl was followed by another girl, this one being quiet and looking away from the blond (that looked a lot like Sasuke by the way).

"He got… and… Sasuke… Hana he got…" Kai couldn't even speak as he kept laughing, bits and parts of unfinished sentences making his speech irregular and incomprehensible.

"Who the hell are you guys??" Naruto (after a while of spacing out, much like everyone else) demanded in his obnoxious way.

Kai tried to speak, but ended up laughing harder and bending over even more, holding his sides, now with both arms.

As for Hana, she had joined Kai in the laughing, and since Jin was busy glaring at those two, Kaorin decided to actually do what they were supposed to do. She walked closer to them and bowed politely.

"I apologize for my team mates." She spoke calmly. "We will be your escorts back to Amegakure." She smiled nicely. "We hope everything will go well!"

Before the other party could say anything, a loud crash was heard.

All heads faced near the trees again, to see the other female laughing her ass off, Kai landing on his feet as the blond male held out his hand slightly forward, lightning still making his hand and lower arm glow blue with small rays.

The raven haired girl sighed and seemingly shrunk.

"Oy Teme, what was that for?" Kai yelled, pissed off. The blond smirked darkly.

"Come and see for yourself." He hissed, and Kai glared.

"Fuck off Jin." Kai proclaimed and lifted both his hands, showing only his middle fingers in Jin's direction, who clenched his free hand (which, by the way, was starting to glow blue with electricity as well).

The younger girl of the group lowered her head, covering her face in shame.

"I'm so sorry." She mumbled under her breath over and over again.

As for Hana, she was still laughing.

"Oh shit, is he a clone or something?" Naruto asked, looking back at his friends in inquiry. None could answer.

"Please excuse their behavior, Hokage-sama, Kazekage-sama." Kaorin apologized lowly, head still bent, hands still covering her face.

Naruto suddenly blinked, looked around, and then at the girl in front of him. He tilted his head and then looked at the scene with the 2 males.

"Oy, you 2 stop it." He yelled, and, surprisingly, the other 3 looked at him, Jin's lightning gone, Kai's hands back at his sides with no rude gestures, and Hana's laughter gone.

Naruto walked to the shrinking and embarrassed girl and put a hand over her head in a comforting gesture.

"Seriously, I don't care if you 2 fight or bicker or whatever, I've been there, but there's something you never do." The other 5 behind him were no longer staring, now observing their serious Hokage, his tone of voice wasn't obnoxious and he had that serious look on his eyes, telling everyone he was serious and not to mess around with.

"And what's that?" the blond was still pissed off and didn't care about manners, or at least that's what Ino thought.

Naruto shook his head.

"You don't embarrass your team mates if you can help it." He turned Kaorin so she faced him and took her hands away from her face.

"Now, what's your name? So I know what to call you." He grinned warmly at her, kindness emanating from him.

"I-I'm Kaorin." She spoke lowly, a pink blush starting to tint her cheeks. Naruto nodded and let go of her hands.

"I'm Naruto!!" he grinned and crossed his arms behind his head. "Now, can you tell me who your baka team mates are?" Kaorin nodded and joined her hands in front of her, fidgeting with the hem of her sky blue top.

"Um… She's Hana-san." She pointed lightly to the other girl, who was looking down in shame. "And, hm, he's Kai." Kai was also looking down in shame. Naruto nodded, looking at each individual as the girl spoke.

"And, um, he's Jin." She finished, and Jin was the only one that was standing with an arrogant attitude.

"Ok." Naruto looked at the 3 in front of him again and then raised a brow when his gaze stopped at Jin.

"Seriously, even the jackass attitude." He muttered under his breath. Ignoring the cold stare the blond was giving him (being in the same genin team as Sasuke did that to you), he turned to the other 2.

"Since Jin over there doesn't seem to give a shit about anything, and you do, go for a walk, and when you've cleared your head, come back and apologize to Kaorin-chan." Kai and Hana nodded and turned around, obeying. Naruto looked back at Jin.

"Even if you don't give a shit, the walk applies to you too, so go." Jin raised an eyebrow.

"Tch, as if I'd take orders from a moron." Naruto twitched, and Ino, Shikamaru and Tenten gulped.

"Naruto, keep it cool." The red haired Kazekage advised.

"Look here you punk." Naruto started, fingers twitching to form his trademark kage bushin, to be able to make his rasengan and shove it on Jin. "Either you go for a walk-" Jin scoffed and Naruto cut his speech short.

Kaorin seemed to be shrinking again.

"WHATCH IT YOU PUNK, I'M THE BLOODY HOKAGE SO YOU BETTER GO OR I'LL SHOVE A RASENGAN UP YOUR ASS." Naruto was seething, yelling. In short, he was pissed off, a lot.

Jin shrugged and turned around, walking away and disappearing in the shadows of the trees.

Once Naruto calmed down and turned around, he noticed the raven haired girl, and laughed nervously.

"Sorry 'bout that." He apologized, though Kaorin though he had nothing to apologize for, Jin did.

"Hey, how 'bout I introduce you to everyone!!" he cheered and took her wrist, dragging her to where his friends were.

As he did so, Kaorin found herself warmed by his kindness, a light pink blush covering her cheeks.

* * *

**So?? how was it??**

**please let me know, your opinions matter a lot and help me improve!!**

**many of you probably noticed the improvement from the 1st chapter to now... and about 1st chapters, i think that, since my plot bunnies are being mean and deserted me, i'll just revise the first chapters (seriously, my grammar and writting style suck-- at least that's what i think now when i read it)**

**anyway, please review!! REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!**

**I could keep rambling, but my AN are always ust so, well, big... --'**

**Love you all my beloved readers!!**

**Kimi-chan!**


	23. Chapter 23

**OMFG, it's been so long... too long... and...**

**No, I'm not dead…**

**I'm really sorry for not updating for so long… the reasons are a few, of which I'll just enumerate the most important:**

**ONE- After ****writing the previous chapter, I had no idea what to write****, I loath lack of ideas to continue, it drives me crazy to not know how to continue something.**

**TWO- ****I decided that I'd finish 'The longest year ever' before New Years**** and so I dedicated my vacation to writing the final chapter.**

**Well, at least now I'm updating and I have a few more ideas to continue!!**

**I bow before all of you and ask for forgiveness for this huge delay…**

**Since it's been so long, I decided to make a recap for those who don't want to go and re-read previous chapters to remember!**

**Oh, I also took down the author's note on between chapter 8 and 9, and I'll dedicate this chapter to my most faithful reviewer: _Black Shadow Fox Shaman _who has beenthere ever since chapter 6 and whose comments always make me happy!! Thanks for the support!! Can't wait to know what you think of this chapter, I hope you like it!!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters, the honor goes to Masashi Kishimoto-sama, I simply own the plot.**

* * *

**Memo:**

**- Hana: **shoulder blade long light brown hair, brown eyes. Akatsuki's medic.

**- Kai: **spiky orange hair, green eyes. Puppeter, can use super strength when he gets really serious or is in a pinch.

**- Ryo: **black bluish short messy hair, dark purple/grey eyes. Can use water jutsus, and when needed can use snow and ice jutsus without having a kekkai genkai.

**- Ruki: **shoulder length long golden blond hair, golden eyes. Can use earth based jutsus. Has a very calculative mind. (think of Ed from FMA)

**- Kaorin: **long raven black hair, deep blue eyes. Can use Fire and Wind jutsus.

**- Jin: **blond hair in spikes at the back of his head, deep blue eyes. Can use Fire and Lightning jutsus. (his hair is kinda like Sasuke's, but for a better image, check Jin from 666 satan)

**- Ryuuki: **short spiky raven black hair, dark emerald green eyes with tints of onyx.

**- Kyuuki: **long raven coloured hair with some dark pink, almost red, highlights, and onyx eyes with a tint of dark emerald green in it.

* * *

**Previously on The Secret Behind:**

Sasuke goes down memory lane and reminisces about the many changes in Akatsuki and the people he gathered to make part of it, remembering why, when and how he got everyone there, now having Aktsuki as their home. As he walks back to his room, after pondering on how his assistant, Yukizora, will be someone great since he was part of the village, he wishes, stupidly in his opinion, that the twins would someday consider Akatsuki their home as well.

Sakura has a very enjoyable dream, whose main characters are herself and Sasuke, and decides that she will do something, things cannot stay the way they are. Later on Fay joins in on the conspiracy and, after learning why Sakura came to the village, asks what the plan is, only to discover there isn't one. After this revelation, Ryo comes into play and says he has a plan.

As for Jin, Kaorin, Kai and Hana, they head out of the village to go get the 'guests', namely Ino, Shikamaru, Naruto, Neji, Tenten and Gaara. To begin it all, Jin had rather not be there, Hana and Kai wanting to almost kill him and Kaorin trying to avoid him after their confrontation on the balcony.

Upon reaching the clearing where the 6 guest are camping at, Kai and Jin get in a quarrel and Hana just laughs, causing Kaorin to be immensely embarrassed. Naruto, not liking that, sends them all for a walk until they calmed down.

Finally, Ruki is assigned to take care of the twins, who seem to hate him, but he wins their hearts when he tells them they can have ramen for lunch when Sasuke had told them they couldn't. When the twins tell them this, he says Sasuke doesn't have to know and gets on their good side.

* * *

**Chapter 23**

The afternoon sky was a clear blue, only a few white cotton-like clouds floating by with the gentle breeze.

After all the ruckus when the Ame-nins had gotten to the clearing and been ordered to go for a walk by the Hokage, said blond had proceeded to introduce everyone to the raven haired girl, who, as light chit-chats were made with every member of the Konoha and Suna-nins, seemed to become more cheerful.

As she looked around the small camp they had made while talking to the Hokage (he insisted she call him Naruto, something about not liking formalities), she noticed that the atmosphere around all of them seemed very inviting, kindness and friendship shared with all 6 of them.

"Ne, ne." the Hokage was, apparently, very much very energetic and somehow boyish, even in his speech, he wasn't one bit too serious or formal in any way. "So only a few of the original Akatsuki are still there?" she nodded and smiled lightly.

"Only Kisame-sempai, Deidara-sempai and Tobi-sempai are part of the original group." He nodded, his legs crossed, hands over his feet and a thoughtful look on his face.

"But there are still 10 guys in the group, right?" she nodded again, noticing how the blond haired beautiful woman sitting on the other side of the extinguished fire rolled her eyes.

"Oh, Konan-san and Pein-san are still somehow part of the group, but not officially, Sasuke-sama only gives them missions to try to track down Zetsu-san." The Hokage nodded again and since he seemed so interested, she continued.

"The official members of Akatsuki, thought, are, from the original members, Kisame-sempai, Tobi-sempai, Deidara-sempai and Sasuke-sama." The Hokage suddenly grinned and crossed his arms behind his head.

"That's just like Sasuke-teme." His grin turned into a frown when the nice brown haired lady spoke from her spot on a tree branch.

"Though he could have taken over the throne _before_ Pein blew up the village and he himself finished destroying what was there." She scoffed. "If it weren't for all the nins Suna sent over to help, the Jounins using the Kage Bushin to work faster and everyone helping somehow, there wouldn't be a village." The blue eyed girl looked down, fidgeting with her shirt.

"I didn't know about that." She murmured, and Naruto threw a dirty look at Tenten before turning back to the girl.

"Don't worry 'bout it Kaorin-chan, it's all in the past." He put his hands on her shoulders and made her face him, his grin somehow soothed her.

"We worked hard and we made the village all better, so don't worry!!" she nodded shyly, a smile making its way to her lips. "Besides." He grinned wider, almost making him look like a fox, and his eyes took a mischievous glint. "As soon as it's all dealt with I'll personally kick the temes' ass so bad he'll need crutches to walk!!" Kaorin giggled while Ino, Tenten and Neji rolled their eyes, Gaara was taking a nap and Shikamaru was cloud gazing.

Entering the clearing, Hana and Kai hesitated as they saw Kaorin giggle and laugh as the blond Hokage kept humoring her, always with a good-natured and kind attitude.

They slowly walked closer to them, and once they were close enough, Hana was the first to speak.

"Ne, Kaorin, we're really sorry." Kaorin turned to them and smiled, shaking her head lightly.

"It's alright!" Hana smiled in relief and was about to sit down when a blur of orange, green and black flashed past her and lunged at Kaorin.

"Kao-chan!" Kai wailed as he pulled her up in a bearhug, anime-like tears on his eyes. "I'm really, really, really, really sorry." He sniffed, and Kaorin started trying to break free.

"K-Kai… can't… breathe…" her words were whispered, but Kai still heard her and pulled back, still anime-style teary-eyed.

"When we get back I'll do whatever you want to make it up to you." The black haired girl giggled and patted his head.

"It's alright, you don't have to." He was about to protest, but she beat him at it. "And you're both forgiven!" Kai's face broke into a grin and he hugged her again, this time twirling her around. This time she laughed.

"Wow Naruto, looks like you have a clone too." Ino snickered and Naruto put his tongue out at her.

"Shouldn't we get going?" Neji, who had been quiet for most of the time, spoke. Kai put Kaorin down but kept an arm around her shoulders. The blue eyed girl seemed to be more cheerful.

"Yeah, well, we have to wait for the teme to get here so we can leave." Kai rolled his eyes. "He's more of an ass than Ruki and Sasuke-sama together when they're in a bad mood." Hana snickered and Kaorin giggled.

Tenten had a thoughtful face as she walked up to them, having come down from her tree, twirling a kunai between her fingers.

"Ne, Neji, don't they remind you of someone?" the Hyuuga raised a brow and shrugged while Tenten looked back at the trio, who were now eyeing her curiously and suspiciously.

"I mean, that blond guy, Jin was it, has the jackass attitude and similar looks to Sasuke." She paused and then resumed. "Kai over there is loud and obnoxious like Naruto." She paused again and Kai narrowed his eyes at her. "Kaorin is like Sakura, all we have to see now is the feisty attitude and it's a perfect match." Her eyes turned to Hana, who was now eyeing her very suspiciously. "Turn her into a guy and put a porn book in her hands and it's Kakashis' replica." Hana gasped while laughter echoed over the camp.

"Aww, you forgot Sai and Yamato, who would they be Ten?" Ino drawled, and the 2 girls laughed again.

"That's a pretty accurate comparison to Team 7, though they're not exactly the same." Shikamaru mumbled and then yawned. "Shouldn't we be going?" he asked while looking lazily over the camp.

"Am I really like Sakura-san?" Kai looked down at Kaorin and raised a brow.

"You know the legendary Haruno Sakura?" he asked, and Kaorin blushed and waved her arms around.

"_Damn it, it's supposed to be a secret."_ She internally kicked herself.

"No, no, no, no, I don't—I mean—no… hm, really, no." she flushed and right when Kai was about to question her further, Jin decided to make an appearance, and for once, Kaorin was grateful to his timing.

"Stop being and idiot, Dobe." He was walking casually to the camp, hands shoved in his pockets and Kai turned to glare at him while Naruto snickered, remembering that he didn't like it when Sasuke called him Dobe either.

"Oh, fuck you teme." Though Kai had more colorful replies than he had back then. Jin raised a brow and stopped a few feet away from them. Naruto watched as his eyes flickered to Kaorin and then back to Kai, never showing emotion. Now that was amusing, in Sasuke language, a flicker of the eyes towards someone he had embarrassed/hurt unnecessarily meant he was feeling guilty. And since they were so much alike so far, maybe it applied to the blond kid too. Interesting indeed.

"Why should I lower myself to your level?" was Jin's comeback, to which Kai glared harder.

"Bastart." He muttered and turned away, and he remembered it went somehow like that with Team 7 too. The blond Hokage (who wasn't as dumb and unobservant as everyone thought) noticed Kaorin sighing and Hana rolling her eyes… like Sakura and Kakashi… Tenten was right, in a way.

He also noticed Jin's eyes flickering towards Kaorin again. He seemed to scoff silently at himself and with an annoyed expression reached into his back pouch.

"Kaorin." He called blankly, and as the girl looked at him, something like hurt in her eyes, the blond teen threw her the thing he had reached for in his pouch.

Naruto smirked in amusement and leaned forward on his hands (he was still sitting cross legged, his elbows propped in his knees while his face was in his hands) as Kaorin caught what Jin had thrown at her.

The blond turned away to go lean against a tree, probably waiting for the departure to Amegakure, and Kaorin looked down, only to smile brightly at the yellow apple in her hands.

By her smile, Naruto figured that that was Jin's way to apologize to her, though there still seemed to be hurt in her eyes. The girl was nice, so he'd figure out something to get those 2 in good terms again… pretending to be an idiot of course.

"Oi, Naruto, you're spacing out again." Ino hit the back of his head and he grinned, mentally scoffing to himself.

"Sorry, sorry." He got up and dusted his pants, then looking around the camp. "Yosh." He murmured and then crossed his arms behind his head.

"Ok, how 'bout you guys guide us to the village??"

* * *

Ruki let out an 'oof' as he was knocked backwards by the small boy throwing himself at him. The girl giggled and he wondered how they managed to get him to act like this—when he hadn't acted this way in years.

"That was unnecessary." He muttered and sat back up on the floor, taking Ryuuki under the arms and holding the grinning, giggling boy in the air. As he was about to speak (he wasn't sure what he was going to say, but that didn't matter) Kyuuki threw herself at him, this time almost knocking him down forward.

He held his balance, the grinning and giggling boy still being held in the air, while the girl perched herself over his back, her tiny arms around his neck, giggling merely.

"Daisuki, nii-chan!!" the small girl cheered and hugged his neck tighter between her small arms. The small boy nodded vigorously, his words giving depth to his twins' previous statement.

"Daisuki!! Daisuki!!" he rolled his eyes and smiled (Damn it, why was he smiling?? He shouldn't be smiling… he was supposed to be the organizations' jackass bastard…).

"I thought you two hated me." He said slyly. The twins pouted.

"Datte, nii-chan, you acted like a meanie before today." He rolled his eyes again and got up, Ryuuki still being held in the air and Kyuuki still clinging to his neck.

"How about a treat? It's around 4 p.m. already." The twins shared a look and then innocently looked at him.

"Can we ask anything?" he raised a brow and maneuvered Kyuuki so he held the twins under his arms, one under each.

"Why wouldn't you?" they both looked down and he deposited them in his bed (hey, he wasn't about to let anyone, especially not Deidara, see that he wasn't an ass like they thought he was, hence why they were in his room and not anywhere else).

They scrambled to sit properly, Kyuuki to his left and Ryuuki to his right, both close together tilting their heads towards each other slightly, and then looked up at him in wonder.

"Sasu-nii-chan said we can't eat sweets." Kyuuki started in a low voice. Ryuuki nodded.

"And he doesn't let Dei-nii-chan, Kai-nii-chan or Ryo-nii-chan give us any either." Ryuuki finished.

Ruki smirked and bent down to their level.

"Who said Sasuke-sama has to know? If he asks, at lunch you ate onigiri and soba, and now you're gonna eat apples." The twins bent forward, crawling closer to him on their knees.

"Honto?" he nodded. "So we can ask anything?" he chuckled at their chorused lines and nodded.

"Anything."

"Then we want ice cream!!" he chuckled, once again, but this time at their excitement.

"_It seems Sasuke-sama has been acting like a strict father these days."_ He paused in his quest to take the twins and observed them, face now blank.

They quieted down as well and observed him.

"Ne, nii-chan, are you ok?" Ruki blinked twice before nodding, and before he knew it, the question that had suddenly popped in his head was blurted out.

"Who's your real father?" not much of a question, since they probably didn't even had the conscience to know if the man raising them was their real father or not.

The twins shared a look and suddenly looked like little angels that were always quiet.

"Hm… it's a secret." Ryuuki murmured, peeking at him through his lashes, face still facing downwards as well as his sister.

"Mama said we can't tell anyone." Kyuuki continued, and the blond adult found himself leaning over the bed, arms crossed. So the famous Haruno Sakura kept secrets from everyone except from her kids.

"It'll be our secret that you told." He whispered in a conspiracy tone. The twins looked up and then at each other. A few seconds passed, and when the twins nodded, he knew they'd reached an agreement.

"But you can't tell anyone." He raised his hand.

"I won't tell." He said vehemently. They nodded, shared another look, a nod, and then reached forward to whisper in his ears, one in each side.

"Our real daddy... is Sasu-nii-chan." They whispered quietly. "But it's a secret!" they leaned back and put their right index in front of their lips. "Shh!!"

He mimicked their pose and put his index in front of his lips. "Shh!!"

So it was true. He knew that the resemblances couldn't be a mere coincidence.

* * *

There was a moment of silence in which the male occupants of the room went very quiet, pondering on what they had just heard, and the sole female present did not know what to say.

Silence stretched on…

Until Sakura decided to speak.

"Um… can I ask you something?" Ryo, who was now leaning against the window/door frame, nodded, calm demeanor in place, as usual.

"How do you know so much about… well, everything?" she gestured with her hands, and the purple/grey eyed man smiled.

"Sasuke-sama sent me to Konoha gather information, coincidently, I arrived there just a few days after you had left for Suna." He paused while she nodded, looking like a confused and helpless child. "Also, it's not very difficult to gather information about someone as reputed as you Sakura-san." The pinkete nodded again.

Snapping out of his daze, Deidara was the first male to speak.

"Not that I don't like the plan or anything… but are you sure it'll work?? I mean… sure, it could, but we'd still have to convince Ruki-teme and Jin-teme to play along." As Deidara finished, Suigetsu piped in.

"I'm sure Jugo would go along with it, but what about Pein and Konan, they're bound to get back sooner or later." Ryo rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Ruki won't be a problem…" his face turned thoughtful. "When I got home with the groceries he seemed to be getting along with them…" he paused and scoffed. "He was acting really ooc too, if you ask me." He looked at Deidara with a pointed look. "Kinda like you 'cept for the dumbass attitude."

"HEY!" the blond glared and would have risen from his seat… had he not know that the pink haired lady would later on grant him one of her insane punches.

On the other end of the couch they were sharing, Sakura giggled lightly, to which the blond threw her a dirty look and huffed.

"Well then, the only problem left is Jin." Fay stated, since no one else seemed to want to think about it. Suigetsu grinned.

"Well, ya know." He drawled, getting everyone's attention. "Ruki was supposed to go get the 'guests' instead of Jin." He stated, to which the 2 other Akatsuki looked surprised. Suigetsu grinned wider while Sakura looked puzzled, not knowing about the guests. Fay seemed intent on finding out, because he didn't let the water-nin finish.

"What guests? And I want the facts or else you're all plotting elsewhere." 4 pair of eyes were rolled.

"Sure, sure, whatever." The light-blue haired nin turned to Deidara. "Why don't you tell them about the 'guests'."

"Hehe." He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. Sakura raised a brow in suspicion. "Well, you see…" he trailed off and got up, inching more and more towards Ryo near the window.

"Someofyourfriendsarecoming." His words were rushed, and the moment they seemed to sink in and Sakura glared at him accusingly, he hid behind Ryo, who raised an amused brow.

"What? She's really scary when she's mad." The blond defended while the pinkete kept glaring daggers at him.

"Deidara-_kun_." She drawled sweetly while inching closer to him, the other occupants of the room looked curiously. "Please do tell me why, oh _why_, didn't you tell me this itsy-bitsy information?" Ryo moved aside, not wanting to be in the middle, and watched amusedly as Deidara fell back on his bottom and desperately tried to get away from the furious woman.

"Well, it's a funny story actually…" she came closer, stopping when he hit the railing of the balcony.

"I'm sorry." He whispered desperately. The look she gave him made him gulp, that frigid icy-cold death glare that made his skin crawl. He raised his arms over his face, sinking against the cold stone. Now he understood her blond dumbass-bestfriend/Hokage a little.

"Be merciful." He mumbled under his breath as he felt her murderous aura come closer, eyes shut tightly. He started counting in his head.

1…

2…

3…

4…

5…

6…

And when he reached 7 he opened his right eye hesitantly, peeking between his arms that blocked his view. What he saw, he wasn't expecting it.

Sakura was kneeling in front of him, eyes soft but looking dejected.

"Am I really that scary?" she whispered. His arms lowered slightly. "Am I really that ruthless?" she seemed to sink and he suddenly didn't know what was happening too well, but she seemed defeated… at breaking-point.

Letting his gaze linger to the others, he saw all of them observing the scene with worried eyes. She suddenly laughed bitterly, softly, but he could almost feel the tears that were coming to her eyes.

"What a great a mother I am, alw-" he didn't let her finish as he straightened and pulled her towards him in a tight embrace, his eyes trained on a random spot on the floor.

"Don't." he mumbled, she had no right to say such things, not when she had her whole life to prove herself a good mother. She had no right to say that in front of him or any of the ones present because… they had all lost their parents young.

"Dei…?" her mumble was muffled by his shirt as he held her tightly against him. At the moment he didn't care if he was hurting her or not.

"Don't ever say that." He tightened his embrace even more. "You have your whole life to prove yourself." He felt her tremble against him. "You're proving yourself just by coming so far for them." He paused, his blue eyes lifting to meet Fay's momentarily, before going back to a random spot on the floor.

"Those kids… they're some of the luckiest kids I've ever seen." He paused and swallowed. "So don't ever say that, got it?" She slowly nodded, and he held her tightly until she stopped trembling.

"Thank you." And even though he knew he could take her on in a fight, he just didn't want war and enemies anymore.

"You're welcome." He said awkwardly and let her go, looking back up to the other males, wanting them to break the awkwardness that was bopund to ensue.

Suigetsu seemed to take the hint and, for once in his life, didn't throw any unwanted comments. The water-nin coughed, getting everyone's attention and leaned forward on the couch.

"Let's not get distracted here, we still have planning to do." Ryo took the hint and sat down on one of the couches, followed by Fay (who had gotten up… he did _**not**_ want his living room, or balcony for the matter, trashed like last time those 2 got in a fight). Sakura came back to the living room, and Deidara lingered near the balcony window.

"As I was saying." Suigetsu continued. "Ruki was supposed to be the one to go get the guests with Hana, Kai and Kaorin-" before he could continue, Ryo interrupted.

"So why did Jin go? I mean, we all know that at the chance those 2 would kill each other." He paused and leaned back on the couch. "And then there's Kaorin."

"Ryo's got a point." Deidara butted in, the awkward aura from before gone… they were getting down to business now. "And Hana, at this point, would kill him if she could too."

Suigetsu sighed and leaned back on the couch while shaking his head.

"Just think with me for a sec, and I'm sure pinky over there's curious about this too. From the reports on the borders, 6 people are coming." He stopped when he noticed 2 disbelieving stares from Deidara and Ryo.

"Just a question, how do you know so much?" the blue haired nin rolled his eyes. And then looked up at the ceiling at the next comment.

"It's not like Sasuke-sama to share so much." There was a scoff followed by words.

"Two words for you 2: sneaking around." Fay snorted, covering it with a cough and receiving a dirty look from Suigetsu.

"But that's beside the point-" sensing Ryo about to say something, he continued. "And would you people shut up and let me finish?" there was a group sigh followed by reluctant silence.

"Good. Now, from the reports from the border, 6 people are coming, and from the description and past knowledge-" glare towards Deidara. "It's easy to figure out who they are." He paused and Sakura was looking expectant and curious.

"First we have the dumbass Hokage and the Kazekage, as everyone knows." At the comment of the Hokage, Sakura refrained from reaching out and punching the water-nin. "Then there's 2 guys and 2 chicks, all from Konoha. There's the lazyass Nara and the fate-idiot Hyuuga."

"_Once this is over, he's getting a beating." _were Sakura's only thoughts as Suigetsu continued.

"Then you have that crazy chick with the weapons fetish and the loudmouth blond who never shuts up." Sakura clenched her fists, glaring daggers at the (_fucking idiotic bastard_) water-nin.

"Before anything else." Her voice was overly sweet, and Deidara gulped, inching away from her, Ryo and Fay following his example. "Naruto isn't a dumbass he's just boyish, Shikamaru isn't that much of a lazyass anymore he just likes cloud gazing a lot, Neji isn't a fate-idiot he just has his beliefs, Tenten doesn't have a weapons' fetish she just likes being prepared, and-" she paused and Suigetsu was starting to sweat as she raised from her seat and started walking towards him purposely slowly. "Ino isn't a loudmouth who can't shut up, she's just chatty." The water-nin sunk further in his couch. "Got it?" she smiled sweetly, and the water-nin gulped.

"Crystal clear ma'am."

"Good." She paused and straightened. "And you're lucky I don't want to trash Fay-san's living room or you'd be downstairs by now." She smiled again and turned away, sitting on her couch like nothing had happened.

There was a minute… or two… of silence, until Fay cleared his throat and went to sit down again.

"So, um, why did Jin go instead of Ruki?" Suigetsu composed himself (while Ryo and Deidara sat down again) and resumed his speech, this time watching his words.

"Well, the Hokage will but in on their business and eventually make Jin apologize to Kaorin and all will be good again. At least, that's the expectation, since Uzumaki always did it before… meddle in other people's business I mean."

* * *

The pile of paperwork seemed to increase every day, and even if he had an assistant, he still had to read every single piece of paper, decide if he approved or not, manage everything in the village and then start all over again.

But doing paperwork wasn't what pissed him off, what did was the fact that all the papers he had to read, more than half of it were destined to go straight to recycling after he read them, and all those documents were oh-so-boring and pointless. At time like these, where his desk was covered in paperwork and whoever entered his office wouldn't even see him behind the piles of papers, folders and scrolls, he wished he could just dump the damn task of reading the damned papers on someone else.

But he couldn't (wouldn't) because he wasn't a slacker.

Seriously, why did the Dobe even want to be Hokage? All they ever did was do paperwork, and he knew from experience that the idiot wasn't one to stay stuck in an office reading papers all day.

He snapped the folder in his hands closed, ultimately bored, and stamped it with his favorite stamp: **DENIED**.

Well, at least now he had someone to go get the paperwork, organize it and deliver the paperwork where it was due, whether the file-record room or the recycling one.

"_Why did I even bother taking this job?_" he paused while reaching for another file. "_Oh, right, because I didn't like the way Madara was handling things._" He scoffed to himself and took the stupid file, probably about something boring again.

There was a knock on the door, childish muffled voices being shushed outside.

"But sensei-"

"Be quiet."

"He better give us some excit-"

"One more word and I'll ask the lowest."

"But sensei-"

"No buts, now be quiet."

The man behind the desk let out a chuckle, put the file down in front of him and spoke. "Come in."

There was a second of silence before the door opened, probably the sensei making sure everyone was quiet.

"Sasuke-sama." The man bowed politely, and Sasuke nodded in response, his face partially hidden by the large piles of paper work.

"Kanzaki." He looked past the adult to see 3 children, around 12, 2 boys and a one. "Makoto, Midori, Natsuki." At the mention of their names, the kids looked at him, the girl being the most polite and bowing lightly. As for the boys, one of them was indifferent while the other looked away huffing.

"A mission I suppose?" Kanzaki, a man of around 27, nodded, dark brown eyes glancing back at his students while his unruly black hair fell in disarray around his head.

"That's manageable." He eyed the kids, one in particular, while he turned to his drawers to fish out the clipboard with the low ranked missions.

"You better give us something good." He rolled his eyes at Natsuki's muttered comment. The boy was feisty and a trouble-maker, always too full of energy. To sum it in one word, he was obnoxious with bright orange/blond hair and clear azure eyes. As for his 2 team mates, Makoto was a quiet boy, almost always keeping to himself with a somehow aloof personality, medium brown hair always in spikes to match forest green eyes, and Midori was a moderate girl, shy or feisty, depending on the situation having redish brown hair and purple/blue eyes.

And their team relationship went somehow like this: Natsuki liked Midori and was Makoto's rival/best-frien. Midori considered Natsuki as an annoying friend and liked Makoto, who didn't really care about it and considered Natsuki an annoyance and his rival/best-friend.

Hm… now that he thought about it…

"Let's see what we got." He brought the clipboard up and looked through it, noticing Natsuki barely containing his excitement. "D-rank, on village." He stated, which was followed by a loud:

"WHAT???" he eyed amusedly as Makoto 'tsk'ed and Midori sighed while Natsuki stomped to his desk, slamming his hands on the wood.

"That is so not fair, we've been going on crappy D-ranked mission ever since we became Genin." The kid huffed and the raven haired man leaned back on his chair raising a brow.

"And that is a problem because…?" the obnoxious orange haired huffed.

"I'm sick of cleaning the river, walking dogs and chasing that crazy cat." He all but yelled, and Makoto rolled his eyes.

"Rephrase that to falling in to the river, being dragged by dogs and get scratches from the cat." Almost light fast, Natsuki turned, accusing finger pointed towards the nonchalant boy.

"TEME. Take that back."

"As if, Dobe."

And hence, bickering ensued, which made Midori sink back towards the wall and Kanzaki sigh in frustration and annoyance. And this was the daily routine (well, everytime they came to get missions) with Amegakure's Genin Team 4.

Sasuke chuckled quietly, observing as Natsuki and Makoto bickered and Midori leaned against the wall, blushing in embarrassment.

Now that he thought about it, when Team 7 went to get missions from the Sandaime Naruto always caused a ruckus, which caused the blond and himself to bicker, Kakashi to become annoyed and frustrated and Sakura to become embarrassed.

"Here." He handed Kanzaki a sheet of paper containing details of the mission (D-ranked, on village – objective: to clean up the training grounds and the river, because it was getting full of autumn leaves) and cleared his throat.

"Natsuki, stop calling Makoto a Teme, Makoto stop calling Natsuki a Dobe and Midori-" The girl looked up while the other 2 boys glared at each other, arms crossed and huffing. "Make sure they don't kill each other." She smiled and nodded.

"What? That crap again?" insert Sasuke rolling his eyes as Natsuki almost shrieked once he laid eyes on the paper. "Man, you're the worst jii-chan."

"Be quiet Natsuki."

"Tsk, Dobe."

"Don't be so obnoxious." Were the comments that followed after, while behind his desk, Sasuke's eye twitched and a scowl started settling on his features.

"_I'm… 23 and he's implying I'm old…"_ he glared towards the kids retreating back while Makoto had already left and Kanzaki and Midori apologized before leaving. _"I swear to Kami I'm only giving him the lowest mission from now on… he'll see…"_

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll try to get a chapter up as soon as I can, I promise I won't make you guys wait like this again, the next chapter, tops, will come out in 2 weeks, but I'll see if I can get it up sooner!!**

**REVIEWS ARE APRECIATED AND MOTIVATE ME!!**

**So please review and tell me what you think, what you liked most and disliked most about the chapter, and things like that, it helps me improve!!**

**Love you all very much,**

**(please review)**

**Kimi-chan!!**


	24. Chapter 24

****

Let me start by saying: I sincerely apologise for the delay in updating.

**I could go on and give a lot of excuses, but honeslty, the reasons I haven't updated in while are mainly 2. One -- I really need to focus in school if I don't want to flunk maths again, and Two -- I've been having this serious block (my plot bunnies have abandones me T.T)...**

**Also, I've been having this annoying focus-related-issue... I've been having too many ideas for at least 3 diferent original stories, but I never seem to be able to focus when it comes to this story, but today I forced myself to finish this chapter...**

**man, was it a hard chapter to write because I wanted to make a breakthrough come into sight, because, really, this story is already long, so I might as well start thinking about the end and all, so NO MORE STALLING chapters. **

**I'll end my rambles now... I could go on and on about what went right and what went wrong and what was harder and what was easier and why it took me so long to finish this chapter, but I won't.**

**So, without further ado, enjoy Chapter 24.**

**P.S.- Since I haven't updated in almost 3 months in a half and not everyone wants and/or has the time to read everything again, I made a memo about my OC characters and a summary about what's been happening.**

**P.S.S.- I think I may take a break for a while... I need to re-write the 10 or so first chapter of this story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, just the plot of this story, a pile of manga/anime magazines and my very disjointed brain.**

* * *

**Memo:**

**- Hana: **shoulder blade long light brown hair, brown eyes. Akatsuki's medic.

**- Kai: **spiky orange hair, green eyes. Puppeter, can use super strength when he gets really serious or is in a pinch.

**- Ryo: **black bluish short messy hair, dark purple/grey eyes. Can use water jutsus, and when needed can use snow and ice jutsus without having a kekkai genkai.

**- Ruki: **shoulder length long golden blond hair, golden eyes. Can use earth based jutsus. Has a very calculative mind. (think of Ed from FMA)

**- Kaorin: **long raven black hair, deep blue eyes. Can use Fire and Wind jutsus.

**- Jin: **blond hair in spikes at the back of his head, deep blue eyes. Can use Fire and Lightning jutsus. (his hair is kinda like Sasuke's, but for a better image, check Jin from 666 satan)

**- Ryuuki: **short spiky raven black hair, dark emerald green eyes with tints of onyx.

**- Kyuuki: **long raven coloured hair with some dark pink, almost red, highlights, and onyx eyes with a tint of dark emerald green in it.

* * *

**Previously on The Secret Behind:**

After Sasuke kidnapped the twins, Sakura went after him, ending up taking residence in Deidara's best friend, Fay, apartment.

In the meantime, Sasuke keeps having some inner turmoils, but little by little, he starts admitting things to himself and getting answers. He also 'hires' a personal assistant, Yukizora, to help with the paperwork, but also because he believes this particular 17 year old can come to accomplish great things in the future.

Farther away, in another country, Gaara and Naruto, after sending a letter for a supposed '6th Kage position' to Sasuke, start their journey to Amegakure with Ino, Shikamaru, Neji and Tenten.

Once they reach the meeting point, they make acquaintance with 4 members of the new Akatsuki, Hana, Kaorin, Kai and Jin. While Naruto watches the Ame-nins interact, he muses about himself and notices that something as to be done about Jin and Kaorin.

In the meantime, back in Amegakure, Ruki is taking care of the twins, who, after spending some time with him, start linking him, and after a little probing from his part, the twins admit that they know who their real father is, Sasuke, confirming his suspicions.

On a particular living room in the same city, Fay imposes himself on the conspiracy Sakura, Deidara, Kisame, Suigetsu and Kaorin were already aware of, and as a lack of ideas leave him surprised, Ryo shows up with salvation. The others won't be too much problem, but in the midst of it, Sakura gets into an argument with Deidara and just when he thought he was about to get the beating of his life, she breaks down. Reprehending her, her tells her to stop thinking so little of her mother skills, because she's the best mother he's ever seen or heard about.

Meanwhile, still in the same village, Sasuke assigns a D-rank mission to Amegakure's genin Team 4 who rather remind him of the Team 7 from his past (Kanzaki, the sensei, Midori, the shy or feisty girl, depending on the situation, Natsuki, the obnoxious troublemaker and Makoto, the nonchalant)… his reaction quite resembles that of the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade.

* * *

**Chapter 24**

"_If you understand something in only one way, then you don't really understand it at all. The secret of what anything means to us depends on how we've connected it to all other things we know. Well-connected representations let you turn ideas around in your mind, to envision things from many perspectives until you find one that works for you. And that's what we mean by thinking!" _- _**Marvin Minsky**_

* * *

To understand something, you had to, first of all, know the facts. Then you had to, and most importantly, have an open mind about the subject to be able to judge it without making preferences. And lastly, to understand something, you had to have a partial attitude towards it and you had to be able to accept it.

Uchiha Sasuke was starting to think that, at the point the situation was at, he did not understand what was really going on around him. At least when it came to the twins.

To start, at first he had _thought_ he knew the facts behind it (his pink haired genin teammate had gone and screwed his replacement, later on giving birth to the kids) but now he wasn't so sure anymore. Sure, his replacement and himself had some resembling traits (dark hair and eyes) but they were _extremely_ different in everything else, which made him confused and upset (and that's putting it lightly) when all the idiots that surrounded him commented on how they looked like him and (Oh My Fuckin' Kami) acted like him (hell, his replacement didn't have his personality, not in the least).

So now, he was starting to doubt the conclusions he had reached with the information he had gathered. He didn't know the facts anymore… back to square one.

He considered himself a pretty open-minded guy, known for keeping his cool and making decisions without his opinion interfering in the matter. But then, it was usually non-related to Sakura… and when it came to Sakura, everyone else's thoughts and opinions could just go to hell that he wouldn't care, his opinion was all that mattered and he acted without considering others. Which, now that he thought about it, was how he got himself into this stupid mess.

Lastly, if there was one thing he wasn't these days, it was partial and accepting. He was selfish and cared only about his selfish reasoning's, because, to begin with, he _didn't_ want to accept Sakura being with his replacement and being a mother. So, no, he didn't fucking have a partial attitude towards the subject and he didn't fucking wanted to accept it.

So to make it short, Uchiha Sasuke was _kinda_ at a loss, not understanding the whole situation he was in, because hell, it was really confusing him.

He sighed in frustration and slammed the dossier in his hands closed with a dry 'whuck'.

Running his hand through his hair and scratching the back of his head, he sighed again and looked out of the window, recently he hadn't bothered to make the weather rainy, he just let the villagers enjoy the sun.

There was no sound of footsteps, the door opening and closing or of anyone entering his office, yet he knew who was there just by the slight waver in the air. He so _did not_ want to deal with _him_ right now, he had enough troubling things going through his mind as it was. Alas, Kami-sama seemed to like annoying him these days-- he could bet the guy(s) upstairs were having a good laugh at his account.

"What do you want?" he didn't even bother to try and sound polite, the guy pissed him off, simple as that, so why bother with pleasantries? It was just a waste of time anyway.

"Hm… you were more polite after you killed your brother." Sasuke clenched his teeth, refraining from snapping at the annoying bipolar nin.

"What do you want?" he asked again, this time more forcefully and in a hiss. There was a light shuffling of cloth, until the man stood next to him, looking out at the village as well.

"Hm… I wonder." There was a pause. "I want revenge, you already know that." So, again with _that_ topic. The raven haired man had to roll his eyes.

"And you should already know that your revenge won't happen, not in this lifetime." He turned back to his paperwork, ignoring the man, and took a stack of papers from the to-do pile of paper work (quite small today for some reason).

As silence settled (not very comfortable for the matter) something popped into his mind for some reason.

He didn't know how long ago, but somewhere he had read _"Every single thing changes and is changing always in this world. Yet with the same light the moon goes on shining."_ It was from some guy named Saigyo, and, right now, he had no idea why, it seemed to make a lot of sense.

"_Everything keeps changing, but some things are always there, unwavering."_ There were things, people, that changed, but at the same time didn't. Like his brother, he had changed, but deep down, he had stayed the same and done the things he had done because he actually _hadn't_ changed.

Sasuke shook his head and tried to get his thoughts clearer, what if… he'd been wrong all along? Wrong about the things he wanted to be right, and because he was so stubbornly _sure _of what he thought he knew, he didn't even consider other options.

So… maybe… possibly… what everyone said… was actually the truth??

On the sidelines, Madara watched with a scowl and narrowed eyes behind his mask as Sasuke's bored and flat aura seemed to get brighter… giddier.

* * *

_Everything that happens has a reason, although, those reasons may never be revealed._

That was what the Hokage concluded as he kept walking through the forest while looking at everyone. After all, this gigantic mess couldn't be happening in vain, especially since it concerned his sister and his rival-slash-best-friend.

It simply _couldn't_ be some karma joke, because if it was, it would be a really sick, twisted and ass-biting one. But it wasn't, because there was too much connections and links and bonds between everything. He wasn't dumb after all, he just pretended to be!

On the calm journey to Amegakure bonding was done, and he befriended all 4 of the Ame nins—well, not all 4 of them, just Kai, Hana and Kaorin, Jin was just like Sasuke, a teme. They were much like his own friends. Hana and Kaorin had mingled well with Tenten and Ino, Jin was plainly anti-social (_stick shoved up his ass kind of anti-social_ as the blond Hokage defined) and Kai was much like himself, which resulted in Gaara and Neji becoming annoyed, Shikamaru to say he was _troublesome_ and the 2 of them becoming friends.

And that friendship was what allowed him to gather information about Amegakure, Sasuke as a leader (and surprisingly friend) and of Jin's pissy attitude and what he had done to hurt Kaorin.

The Hokage frowned and narrowed his eyes at the blond replica of his brooding best-friend (no matter how much time passed, the status Sasuke had to him would remain).

"Oi, Naruto, you ok?" he glanced to his right, where Kai was walking, brow raised. He crossed his arms behind his head and resumed his narrowed gaze to Jin (who, _surprisingly_ was walking at the front).

"I'm fine." The orange haired male eyed him strangely, but then grinned.

"What are you plotting?" oh, that quiet, almost whispering conspiring tone made a sly smirk settle on the blonds' face. With a dark chuckle, both men leaned closer to each other, rubbing their hands together as they started whispering among themselves.

From the front, Jin cast a wary glance at the pair of obnoxious men behind him, he had a bad feeling for some reason.

From behind the 2 plotters, the girls were talking among themselves (there seemed to be a silent mutual agreement that the girls would stay in the middle).

"They're on to something." Ino crossed her arms, baby blue eyes narrowing. "I just know it." Tenten rolled her eyes.

"As if that's new." The brunette muttered. "Just let them be, they'll only be more annoying if you start asking questions." She waved a hand dismissively and Ino glared.

"Shut up, ok." Hana giggled, while Kaorin stole a worried glance at the blond and orange haired men.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" 3 pairs of eyes settled on her. "It usually never ends well when Kai starts plotting something…" her tone of voice screamed worried.

"And we all know Naruto's plans never end well either." Tenten piped in. Ino rolled her eyes.

"What_ever_." She waved a hand, manicured nails painted blue flashing in the sunlight. "I'm bored ok, and even if they don't always end well, at least it's entertaining." She seemed determined and Tenten sighed.

"Here we go." Hana and Kaorin seemed confused, and even more when Ino started walking ahead of them. Tenten sighed again. "Oh, Kami-sama…"

Ino marched up to the 2 loud and bright colored haired men and swung her arms over their shoulder, while they instantly shut up.

"So, what're we plotting??" she asked cheerily. The males eyed her warily and her excited gaze turned warning. "And I _am_ going to plot with you two."

They sighed and rolled their eyes, giving in to her.

"Fine, you're in." they both spoke, and 3 sets of eyes (2 blue and one green) became sly and a bit evil as Ino received an update of _The Plan_.

* * *

"_So now we just wait… did I hear right?"_

"_Yeah, you did… baka." Rolls eyes._

"_Oi, shut it ice-boy." Threatens._

"_Enough you 2. Geez, and you're both supposed to be 23." Annoyed._

_Silence._

"_Whipped by a chick with pink hair." Smirk._

_Silence._

_Whack. From 2 different people._

"_I said stop it." Getting angry._

_Nervous gulps._

_Rolls eyes, from other people._

"_Kinda agree with shark-boy." Annoyed glare from artist best friend._

"_What'd I tell ya, whipped." Mumble._

_Silence._

_Clears throat._

"_So we just wait?"sighs and looks at ceiling._

"_Yup, we'll put the plan into action when the others get here."_

_Nods head._

_Shared glances._

"_Who wants cookies?"_

_Weird looks towards the blond artist.  
Raises hands in defense._

"_What? Can't a guy be hungry anymore?" Huff._

* * *

In retrospection, he wasn't the brightest out of everyone, but he wasn't dumb either… he always knew that playing dumb was the best way at getting attention, so that's what he did, he acted dumb, like a buffoon, and he got attention. Granted it wasn't the kind of attention where you got praised, but it was attention nonetheless.

At a young age, he more of acted like an idiot and was slightly oblivious and hard-headed, not understanding everything, but as he grew and matured, he started understanding everything, but sometimes, it was better to pretend to not understand, because the concerned people didn't want others to understand… and it was kinda part of him to be oblivious to things, or so others said!

It was somehow confusing, but, bottom-line, he acted dumb but he understood most of what was going on around him.

In retrospection, he wasn't the brightest of the pack, but he managed, and while everyone thought they had him fooled and that he didn't notice the changes and, well, weird (at lack of better term) things going on, they were all thoroughly mistaken.

Earlier that day, he had come to the conclusion—well, not exactly conclusion, he just knew, deep down (call it a gut feeling) that _this_ (whatever it was) that was happening with Sasuke, Sakura and the twins and involving all of them had meaning and connections, underlying to the surface. Connections that ran deep and would change everything.

Now, don't get him wrong, he wasn't all-knowing, so most of what he knew (_thought_ he knew) was just him speculating about the information he gathered, but he knew something about Sakura, about the twins, that no one else seemed to see, and that Sakura had been hiding.

Yeah, sure, it managed to stick, but he knew it couldn't be, that Sakura and Sai just simply couldn't _truly_ be together. It was all really simple to figure out, especially since Sakura was like a sister to him and they had practically grown up together. And Sai… sure, they were good friends, but not good enough to the point where they would spend a steamy night together. No, they were good friends to the point of sleepovers, but nothing else.

He _knew_ (call it his gut feeling again) that Sai and Sakura weren't together, and he just _**knew**_ that the twins weren't Sai's. But the guy was a good cover-up, especially when it came to resemblances.

When Sakura had announced the 'relationship' and her pregnancy, he had had this feeling that something was off, but he had brushed it off as being over protectiveness for his favorite girl (non-romantically speaking, romantically, his favorite girl was Hinata). But then, there was a lot that didn't stick with him.

Everyone else seemed to accept it, but he didn't (secretly of course). It was in the way they never really went on romantic dates, in the way that, on missions, they didn't steal glances at each other or tried to sneak away at night… in the way they never discussed their 'relationship' with anyone, and if asked, they _never really wanted to talk about it_.

And then the twins.

He had never said anything because he respected the fact Sakura didn't want to reveal her reasoning's, but he still felt betrayed and hurt that she wouldn't trust him enough to tell him the truth. And so he was left speculating.

Oh, but there was another reason why he knew she wasn't really with Sai, and that was something that had always been there, strong and unwavering, ever since they were genin, her love for Sasuke. And that love wouldn't have just left from day to night, and he was positive that she still loved him.

And so, the twins.

Two little adorable miracles that he loved as if they were his own. He loved those kids just like he would love his unborn child, because they were absolutely endearing. They also resembled their parents a lot.

At first, when Sakura announced her pregnancy, his first thought was that she had been raped and her sense of humanity didn't allow her to have an abortion. But then, if that were the case, even if she came to love the child, her eyes wouldn't take that special glint every time she spoke about it. She loved her babies from the start, something a rape victim wouldn't.

And then, as time went by and her belly started to grow round and cute and adorable, he saw the way she acted and looked, the devotion and pure love she held for the unborn child, the way her eyes sparkled and shined every time she would caress her stomach.

At that moment, he knew that she hadn't been raped, and that for her to love those gaki so much from the start, it had to be someone she truly loved that was the father.

And that lead to the only one that fit the profile: Uchiha Sasuke.

But of course, it was just him speculating. Though, he was pretty sure he had at least the raw outlines of it all right.

And his conclusion that Sasuke was the father was confirmed when the little bundles of joy were born. And again, Sai was a good cover up for his resemblances in physical appearance, namely pale skin, dark eyes and dark hair. But he knew better… he just _knew._

Surprisingly… he was proud to have been the first person to see the twins. He had even been the one to cut their—what was it called again?... ah, right, umbilical cord. Sai (so not the father) had been on a mission, so he had had the great pleasure of being there with Sakura (getting his hand crushed into dust and being yelled at) and actually being the first person (other than the doctor and nurses, they didn't count) to hold the tiny babies.

He had honestly been ecstatic when the doctor had told him to cut the thingy, and after the nurses cleaned the small baby while the doctor worked on the other, they handed him the small bundle wrapped in a pale blue blanket telling him it was a boy. It had been so… out-of-this-world, per-se, to be the first to hold the tiny baby—a part of Sakura-chan. It had been amazing and he had been so _ridiculously_ happy to be able to be there—to be wanted there to witness such a wonderful thing!! The baby had been so small, so fragile and so very cute!!

And then the doctor had given the second baby to the nurses, a just as tiny girl. After they had cleaned the little girl, they had handed her to a thoroughly exhausted Sakura. But as exhausted as she was, she was basking in the afterglow, that unadulterated love making her glow with all the happiness in the world.

Something he would never forget—ever—was that moment when he sat next to her sweaty figure on the messy hospital bed, cradling the small baby boy while she cradled the small baby girl. If anything, that moment had been one of pure happiness and perfection!

Sure, he knew he wasn't the one that should be basking in the afterglow with Sakura, and Ino was probably pissed she hadn't been the one in there, but Sakura had asked for _him_ to be there, not anyone else, and that fact alone, for how insignificant it may seem, made him truly happy, because she wanted to share that wonderful and magical moment with him. It made his heart swell in happiness, because they had never shared something so meaningful!!

At that moment, no matter if he was hurt because she wouldn't tell him the truth, he had decided that he wouldn't care (too much), so long as he could be there for her and be able to take care of the little bundles of joy… to play with them, to cradle them and to lull them to sleep. To introduce them to the wonders of ramen!!

Because, no matter what, they were part of his family!!

And so, every time Sakura had to do something (be it a meeting with the Hokage, grocery shopping, helping at the hospital or just some girl time with the girls) he always volunteered to take care of the twins, Projection and Inspiration, Ryuuki and Kyuuki.

He wanted to be as much part of their lives as he could, and he was glad Sakura allowed him to be!!

And it was as he took care of them, his Kage Bushin useful so both babies had the same amount of attention given to them, that his theory about Sasuke being the father started to become more real as he took note of the little details that went unnoticed unless you looked very carefully. The shape of their eyes, the shape of their faces and even the onyx color in their eyes that mixed with the emerald green. While Sai's black eyes were pure black, Sasuke's were onyx, mixing with grey, and the dark color in the twin's eyes was grayish, not pure black.

He'd never said anything about his speculations to anyone—okay, that was partly a lie… on occasions, he'd talked to the twins (when they were babies) about their fathers' adventures. They'd giggle and have fun while he told his stories, gesturing around, twirling with them and even going as far as to use his Kage Bushin to entertain them… of course, no knew about this!!

With all this, he knew something (good or bad or even both) would come out of this ordeal with Sasuke and Sakura as main partakers. But whatever happened, as long as he would still have his family, he wasn't too worried… right now, he was just worried that the Teme's thick skull wouldn't figure it out and realize he was being an idiot.

Well, whatever would happen, would happen, he just hoped nothing too bad happened… or at least that nothing that couldn't be fixed happened.

When a snicker came from his right, he ended his musings and looked to see Kai and Ino looking absolutely devious. He smirked, knowing the plan and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"So, Operation Payback starts??" he asked with a just as devious as his co-plotters grin. Their grins widened, and he knew, now was time to have some fun.

* * *

Time seemed to pass quickly for him that day. Not long ago he had been in his office, dealing with paperwork he hated so much and having to put up with someone that annoyed him to no end. Whoever said, or ever thought, that life was easy was an idiot, because life was _**not**_ easy, in fact, life was a bitch.

A silent sigh escaped his lips, his mind screaming _'What am I doing here?'_ as he stayed in the same place, leaning against the wall, hidden by the shadows, and kept watching the 2 small kids.

He knew Ruki would get in their hearts not after long, because even if the guy acted like a jackass most of the time, it was just a façade… being with the twins was making him act more like himself.

But Ruki didn't matter at the time, the twins did. Kyuuki was giggling while Ruki braided her hair and Ryuuki was playing with legos.

It had been a while since he had taken them… 5, 6 months??... time had passed alright, and somehow…

Another sigh escaped his lips… it was already July, not that it mattered much… how long had it been since he celebrated his birthday anyway? Speaking of birthday, it made him wonder when the kids were born… a detail he had failed to check.

Another sigh.

What was he doing? No, that wasn't the question he so badly wanted the answer to. Why was he so affected by the twins? That was the one he couldn't seem to get a reasonable and rational explanation for.

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to walk away, because he couldn't take it, whatever it was that was starting to take over him. Was it too much to ask for something simple and good once in a while?? Something simple and good for _him_ and not for everyone else.

He shouldn't have kidnapped them, he knew… they were innocent children who didn't belong in the endless conflict that existed among shinobi, they deserved a happy childhood, surrounded by love and everyone that loved them.

Closing the door of his bedroom, he let himself fall face first on the navy blue covered bed, exhaling a heavy sigh as he buried his head on one of the pillows.

He would have liked to say that, with so much on his mind, insomnia fell upon him, forcing him to keep thinking about everything. Alas, the situation was the complete opposite. A few moments after he fell upon his bed, exhaustion, both physical and mental, seemed to envelop him, his lids becoming heavy and his vision and thoughts hazy and blurred.

His dreams started out as blurs of colors and distorted sounds that he couldn't seem to identify, whirling around him as he seemed to be some kind of immaterial being just floating through space.

After what seemed like an eternity and just a second at the same time, the distorted voices faded and the color blurs became a night sky, filled with stars and a crescent moon. Somehow, he felt unusually calm and at peace.

He looked around, noticing he was still an immaterial being, and all he could see was the dark sky illuminated by twinkling and sparkling stars. Looking down, the sky seemed to continue, but a slight waver made him realize that, in fact, the sky was just being reflected in water, a seemingly infinite ocean under the infinite starry sky.

The sight possessed a beauty that could not be described by words, it was extremely real, but at the same time surreal… enchanting and entrancing.

The breeze blew past him, and at that moment, his body became a reality, some kind of force holding him in between the ocean and the sky.

The breeze was warm, like a summer breeze, as it ran across his skin, soothing him and comforting him. And in that infinitude of sky and stars, he felt completely at ease, as if life actually was easy, just like watching the stars.

The gentle breeze blew again, but this time it carried a sweet whisper of his name. _"Sasuke-kun."_ A soft and sweet melody that he hadn't had the pleasure to hear in years.

He closed his eyes as the warm breeze blew past him again, carrying his name in it again, her voice invading his senses, as if she was whispering in his ear.

The light scent of vanilla, peppermint mixed with rain and cherry blossoms wafted around him, and he let out a contended sigh, letting himself be engulfed in her, vanilla and peppermint probably from the beauty products she used, and cherry blossoms and rain her natural scent, like her namesake.

When he opened his eyes, facing below, there was no longer an ocean and he was now standing on a grass field. Lifting his eyes forward, he was greeted by the almost same beauty as previously, only now he had an earthly point of view over the ocean meeting the sky, reflecting the stars and moon and creating the illusion of infinity.

Time seemed to stand still, the breeze having disappeared, but the whisper of his name reached his ears all the same, followed by the soft scent of _her_.

He tried to locate her voice as she repeated his name, but couldn't as it seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. She was a paradox, his own unsolvable enigma, because he never seemed to be quite able to figure her out.

He sighed, the simple and easy-going thoughts starting to be replaced by more complex ones. Why would she be here anyway? She probably wanted his head in a silver platter for what he had done (and was doing).

"_Sasuke-kun."_ Her voice reached him again, a sweet whisper that held an emotion he dared not mention, because he didn't deserve it, he never had.

The scenery wavered below him, a tree appearing next to him and the grassy field acquiring shore, the almost unmoving water gently lapping at the small patches of sand.

"_Sasuke-kun._" He closed his eyes tightly, willing her to go away, to stop whatever she was doing… willed her to stop saying his name with that oh-so-soft and oh-so-gentle display of emotion. Because his heart constricted every time she did it, every time she said his name like that.

"_Sasuke-kun._" She was calling him, beckoning him to… something he was oblivious to.

The air around him shifted, the pleasant scent of _her_ becoming stronger, enveloping him, entrancing him. And making him wish he was someone else, someone who could have a life with her.

"_Sasuke-kun."_ The sweet whisper of his name again, but this time it was different. His eyes snapped open in slight shock. He didn't need to bottle everything up in his dreams.

Slender arms wrapped around him shoulders, feminine curves pressing against his back, warm and sweet breath caressing the skin of his neck, soft meshes of hair tickling the skin of his shoulder that wasn't covered.

"_Suki yo, Sasuke-kun!(1)_" he felt her arms tightening around his shoulders and her face press against his neck. His mouth felt dry, a lump formed in his throat and his eyes stung.

He tried to say something, but nothing came. What could he say anyway? I'm sorry was the only thing that occurred to him, but saying sorry wouldn't earn him her forgiveness. He didn't deserve her forgiveness, not matter what he did or said.

Against his neck, she shook her head, as if denying something.

"_Iie.(2)_" There was a small pause. "_Sasuke-kun ga, suki janai.(3)_" His heart clenched painfully, each beat a ruthless stabbing pain. But he didn't have time to tell himself he deserved it, because she continued, her voice soft and gentle, as if explaining something to a confused child.

"_Sasuke-kun ga, aishite imasu!(4)_" unwillingly, his heart swelled with unadulterated joy, but his throat constricted further and he had to blink a few times to will the stinging feeling away. This was torture at its rawest form.

He wanted to turn around and hold her tightly, kiss her until she was out of breath… make love to her until they were too exhausted to move. But he didn't, because he deserved not even the simplest of gentle gestures from her… he deserved nothing from her other than hate.

His inner struggles were cut short by her soft voice, a whisper really. A sad question.

"_Ne, Sasuke-kun, why won't you hold me?"_ he didn't answer, couldn't, it was too painful. Sweet temptation… more painful than the most gruesome and ruthless injuries of battle. More painful than all the injuries he had ever suffered gathered together.

"_I miss you Sasuke-kun…"_ her voice was soft, a mere whisper against the flesh of his neck. Pain. Pain. Unbearable pain. "_I miss you so much._" Wet and lukewarm, slowly running from her flesh to his. Tears.

No._ No.__** No.**_

Don't cry. _Don't cry.__** Don't cry.**_

I don't want you to cry. _No more tears._ _Please.__** No more tears.**_

You're not supposed to cry over me. _Not anymore. So stop crying. Please. __**Please stop crying.**_

Her tears, he concluded, would always lead to his undoing.

Her tears, slowly rolling down her cheeks and into the junction of his neck and shoulder, were what made what little control he had in himself come undone, snap, turn into microscopic specks of dust and disappear into nothingness.

Her tears were what made him turn around, desperation eating at his insides, and wrap his arms tightly around her smaller frame, as if she could disappear if he didn't. She probably would.

"_I miss you too."_ His voice came out a strangled whisper, his throat feeling raw and his insides clenching as he buried his face in the softness of her soft hair. Oh, how he missed her. So much. _So very much. __**So much it hurt.**_

She sniffed and slightly trembled in his arms, her warm tears now running down her cheeks and into his shirt. How he hated himself for making her cry. For making her sad. _For making her hurt._

Time in the dream realm seemed to pass both excruciatingly slow and painfully fast, but he couldn't bring himself to care, the warmth of her body, the lingering scent of _her_ and her arms wrapped around him made him not care about anything else but just that, her warmth, her scent, _**just her**_.

And as the darkness of night started to fade into the light of day, the sun peeking out from the horizon, being reflected in the seemingly endless ocean of his dreams, she raised her head.

Her eyes, as green as the forest and more beautiful than anything else entranced him, but the words she spoke—whispered really, were what made him snap awake, sitting up on the bed abruptly, eyes wide and sweaty all over. His breaths came in harsh pants and his heart seemed ready to explode inside his ribcage from how fast it was beating.

"_Come to me and I'll forgive you."_

* * *

Golden eyes watched the small bundles under the sheets for a few seconds, taking note of their breathing, signaling that the small twins were sound asleep, before looking out of the window.

It was still night, but he had always had an habit of awaking in the middle of sleep ever since he was a child, because, as a child, the middle of the night would be when his parents would open their home doors to their friends and comrades to plan and plot, forming conspiracy plans for the coup d'état. Other nights, always in the middle of the night, they would fight, his father idealistic and his mother down-to-earth, both trying to come to terms so that _he_, a mere child, would not suffer from what they planned to do.

Most nights though, it would be conspiracy. Sometimes he would listen, not quite understanding what was said, but retaining every little detail anyway. Other times he would take all his pillows and plushies and burry himself under them, sealing the sounds of voices away.

When his parents argued, fought, he would cry, hiding in the farthest corner of his closet with his favorite plushie and blanket, he would stay in the shadows and cry.

During those nights—no, not during those nights, _because_ of those nights, he had gained a power, a skill, that he had only read about in books, years later, when his parents were no longer there and he turned his back on his village, making as much damage and taking as much important documents as he could—which turned out to be a lot.

Apparently, the skill he had, only a few had it too, but unlike many other skills, his wasn't a bloodline, it was, in simple words, the fruition of over-creative imagination. Or something in those lines.

He had never told anyone about it thought, after all, who would believe him anyway, especially when this particular skill was only heard in rumors and old stories.

But he knew it was real.

His skill, explaining in a simple way, allowed him to create a path between subconscious so that 2, or even more, people could express themselves freely, saying things they could not in person to other. Resuming, he bound dreams so that 2 people or more could communicate.

It probably sounded weird, to say the least, but it had worked so far. The mother of the twins, whose stay in Ame he was well aware of, had had some revelations with one of his dreams, and unconsciously and not too much aware, Sasuke had taken part in that dream, giving her the answer she either refused to admit of desperately needed.

As for Sasuke, the dreams he had just woken up from was another of his creations, in which his pink haired beloved had taken part to give him some answer, to make him do something.

In these dreams, all feeling shared were real, but of course, the people in it didn't know that.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed reading !! Please let me know if you did, what you liked, what you're expecting, what you'd like to see, what you wouldn't, etc... I love to hear (read) what you guys think.**

***cough* This is the same as begging for reviews, so PLEASE REVIEW, reviews make me extremely happy.**

**Side-note (not so much on the side) --**

**(1) - 'Suki yo, Sasuke-kun!' means 'I like you, Sasuke-kun!' -- used by girls**

**(2) - 'Iie.' means 'No.'**

**(3) - 'Sasuke-kun ga, suki janai.' means 'I don't like Sasuke-kun.'**

**(4) - 'Sasuke-kun ga, aishite imasu!' means 'I love Sasuke-kun!' -- a very open way of saying I love you btw.**


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